Sometimes A Girl Needs To Run
by Cheesecake-and-Pengins
Summary: Anna had always been told that running away is never the answer, but as it might just prove to be the only option she can take to get a chance of happiness she soon dismisses the risks and embarks on a journey that will either make or break her.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: Why must I do this? **Insert sad face here** I don't own anything.**

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><p><strong>AN: I was asked to do a prologue of my new story by Izzy, so I thought I'd give it a go. So just as a bit of background info, it's kind of a sequel to Old Friends Are Best, but not quite. I'm only calling it a sequel because Liam (aka Crash) is still going to be at Elm Tree for his training and Seth and Tracy are together. **

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><p><strong><span>Prologue<span>**

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><p>The streets were deserted. Leaves and debris from the street moved by the chill wind created the only movement to be seen. Anna watched them for a moment as a sudden gust made them dance crazy patterns in the air, transfixed by the motion. From her position, hidden behind a stack of rubbish deep into the alleyway, she knew that she was invisible, but she also knew that she would have to move soon. She hadn't eaten anything but a crust of stale bread in the last two days, too scared to come out of her hiding place. But now the hunger pains were getting worse, and she knew she couldn't hold out much longer.<p>

Gathering her courage, she compulsively checked her small battered backpack to make sure she still had her meagre supply of possessions before taking the plunge. Hooking the straps over her too thin shoulders, Anna stepped out into the moonlight for the first time in over forty-eight hours. It was a bright night which meant that although the many street lights around her were broken, Anna had no trouble seeing around her.

Cautiously, she crept through the silent streets, jumping back into the shadows at every noise, real or imagined. She knew that there was a restaurant a few streets away, and was hoping that their bins would be full of leftovers, just waiting for the taking. Smiling to herself at the thought, she realised that it was only three weeks ago that she would never have dreamed that she would have to go through bins just to survive. But a lot had happened in those three small weeks. Her smile started to falter as the memories came back. _NO!_ She thought suddenly. _No. It's okay now, I'm safe. I don't have to live like that any more.__I'm safe. _

It had become her personal mantra over the last few days, a magic spell to keep the bad thoughts at bay. Most of the time it worked, and that was enough for her at the moment, she had other things to worry about just now. Like food.

She was getting closer now, the streets becoming more busy as she moved into a more lived in part of the town. She had to be more careful now. Keeping close to the shadows, she quickly made her way the street across from the restaurant and hid in a doorway, waiting. She had to make sure the coast was clear, she couldn't get caught. They'd send her back and then...

Shaking her head as if physically remove the thoughts from her head she decided to make her move. Looking uneasily around her she moved more purposely towards her destination, determination in her step. She was almost at the bins, maybe five yards top. Closer now, she could smell the acrid stench of rotten food, this was it, she almost there, she could almost touch it.

Stopping suddenly, she flattened herself against the wall and held her breath. She was sure she had heard it. Were they real? The footsteps behind her. Or just her mind playing tricks on her once more? Taking a deep breathe, she forcibly calmed herself and decided to keep going as no other sound was heard.

Bracing herself against the wall, she pushed off with both hands, intending to take the last few metres at a run. She didn't get very far though. She had barely pushed off when strong hands had clamped down on her shoulders rooting her to the spot. Twisting her face round in shock, she saw the vibrant coloured high-visibility vest of a policeman. Stunned now, she frantically cast her glance back to bins. She had been so close.

Dully she realised that he was talking to her, asking her questions. Asking her name, her address. What she was doing out here all alone? All questions she couldn't answer without fear of being sent back. "No." She whispered, her voice barely audible over the crackling of the radio as the he called for help. "Please no. Don't send me back." Her whispers fell to quiet sobs, as tears began to stream down her grimy face. She glanced once more at the bins, her previously happiness at the thought of them now a dim memory of the past. They were the last things she remembered seeing before passing out, the stress and hunger of her time living rough finally catching up to her.

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><p><strong>AN: Two notes in one chapter OMG! But anyway, I won't be able to get the next chapter up till next Sunday at least, this is just a teaser of all the good things to come lol. It turned out to be a bit more than 100-200 words though, I think a got a bit carried away. **

**Tell me what you think. **


	2. Don't Lie And Say That It's OK

****Disclaimer: Ditto from the last chapter. I only wish I did. ****

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><p><strong><span>Chapter 1: Don't Lie And Say That It's OK.<span>**

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><p>Indistinct sounds filtered slowly into her consciousness, rousing her from the deep slumber she had previously been enjoying. Her mind was still foggy with sleep and she was wrapped comfortably in warm blankets making her reluctant to move, so she just listened, settling for waking up lazily, like she used to.<p>

The last thought made her frown slightly as the noises around her became clearer, why couldn't she be leisurely any more and take her time? A beeping noise penetrated her thoughts, it was continuous and had obviously been sounding for a while now, making her wonder absently why she hadn't noticed it before. Concentrating now, she found that she could also hear the clatter of things being moved around as well as the constant murmur of voices, too far away for her to distinguish words. Listening harder, she noticed that she could hear two voices closer to were she lay, but they were speaking too quietly for her to hear what they were saying.

She was rapidly becoming more alert as her confusion mounted. Moving as if to sit up, her eyes shot open as her arm brushed against what felt like a long tube lying across her on the bed. Panic filled her as she took in her surroundings. Bright bare walls, rigid sheets, the beeping machinery and the unmistakable stench of cleanliness quickly led her to believe that she was in a hospital room. She didn't know why she hadn't figured it out immediately, the smell alone was enough to bring back memories of her previous visits. But why was she here this time?

Her mind was still fuzzy, pictures and sounds filtered through her mind at an almost dizzying speed, all of them seemingly unconnected. Sitting up completely, she struggled to push down the wave of nausea that followed the movement. From her new vantage point she found, to her distress, that she was dressed in a hospital gown with wires and tubes leading from her body to the beeping machines to her right. Her eyes flickered quickly around the room in the hope that she had missed some clue that would lead her to find out why she was there. There was no obvious pains, and she didn't feel all that bad, if not a little hungry, but that was nothing unusual. Twisting around to look behind her she noticed that her head felt strange, lighter somehow. Bringing her arm up, she ran her hand over her head and through her hair. Or where her hair used to be. Instead of the long wavy locks she was expecting, her hand had stopped at the base of her neck, just where her hair now ended.

Gasping in shock, her breathing became more ragged at this new discovery on top of everything else, she didn't understand what was happening and she didn't like it. She wanted out. Frantic now, she started pulling at the apparatus that connected her to the machines, oblivious to the pain that her actions caused in her current state of alarm. Pulling out the last one, she pushed herself off of the bed, nearly falling from a combination of dizziness and overexertion. In her haste to right herself, she knocked over a table that had been by her bedside, sending the objects that had been on top of it clattering onto the tiled floor.

The door opened almost immediately and two figures burst into the room causing Anna to jump back in fright. She was nearly hyperventilating now and backed away quickly as the the two men walked further into the room, coming towards her. She tripped over something on the floor and fell onto her back with a cry that she couldn't stop from escaping. One of the men – the taller one, she noted absently - started forward as if to catch her, and in that moment she looked into his face for the first time since he had entered the room. She stopped backing away almost instantly in shock. It was almost as if someone had flipped a switch inside her head, allowing everything to fall into place.

The fear. The streets, the dirt, the cold and the hunger. The bins and the man that had stopped her from reaching them. It all came flooding back, as she gazed into his face. Other than the bins, it was the last thing she had seen before blacking out. Hopelessness engulfed her completely and she collapsed fully onto the floor, sobbing heart-rendingly at what she thought was the end of her escape. Surely he knew she had ran away. Why else would the police be outside her hospital door, other than to take her back like she had always been told they would.

Lost in her thoughts, she only vaguely registered that someone was lifting her from the floor and placing her back onto the bed. The next thing she felt was a light stinging sensation in her arm and then nothing. She had descended into dark oblivion of unconsciousness once more.

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><p>Her next awakening was much more abrupt than the last. Something had been dropped just outside of her room, startling her so much that she had almost fallen from her bed. She had woken almost instantly, her mind clear and the events of the last few days coming easily to her. But there was something nagging at the back of her mind that she just couldn't grasp. She was missing something, something important. Frowning, she reached around her in order to check her bag. Maybe the policeman or someone at the hospital had taken something from it.<p>

Her bag! She couldn't remember seeing it the last time she had been awake, but it definitely wasn't here now. Uneasy now, she jumped from the bed fully intending on tearing the room apart in order to find it. After all, it had to be here. It was all she had left.

She had barely moved away from the bed when the door opened. Anna's head jerked up at the intrusion, her eyes instantly focusing on the sole person entering the room. She vaguely recognised him, and it took her a second to realise that he had been with the policeman the time before. He was dressed in scrubs and studying something attached to a clipboard as he entered. When he looked up and noticed Anna watching him, he smiled shakily, bending somewhat at the knees so that they were at eye level.

"Hi." He stated warmly, holding out his hand to her. "I'm Dr. Mackay. Can I ask your name?" Anna kept her face as neutral as she could, ignoring both his question and his attempt at a handshake. She couldn't afford to let him know who she was. If the policeman wasn't here any more, she might have been wrong, he might not know about her. She watched as the smile fell from his face at her unresponsiveness, pleased that he was no longer pretending.

"What about your age?" He continued hopefully. "Or your address? Your parents must be worried sick." Without meaning to, she flinched slightly at the last question. It was almost unnoticeable, a small twitch that could have easily been misconstrued as uneasiness at the doctors tone of voice or at the situation she now found herself in. But she knew it hadn't been the moment she said it and the flash of _something_ had passed over the doctors face.

"Alright then, you don't have to talk if you don't want to. So I'll talk. We have to do some tests, nothing scary, just a few x-rays and such to make sure your OK. A nurse will be by a little bit later to help you, but we need to know if you have any allergies or if you have any medical conditions like epilepsy. Did you ever have to go and see a doctor?" Anna nearly snorted aloud at the question, she had seen plenty of doctors, but he didn't need to know about that. He had paused clearly waiting for a response, but carried on regardless when he didn't get one. "Well I'll just leave you to it, the now. You'll be happy to know that you'll get something to eat first, you must be hungry after sleeping so long." He straightened up once more, wincing slightly as his knees cracked. "I'll see you soon." He added as he left the room, closing the door softly behind him.

Anna sighed heavily after he had left. It could have gone better, she knew that he had picked something up, but there was nothing she could do about it now. At least she was going to having to eat, she might be able to think better after that.

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><p>After the promised food, Anna had had no time to resume her search. Shortly after the doctor had left, someone had arrived with her meal. She had been ravenous by then and it had taken nearly all of her self control not to pounce on the tray before it had even been placed down in front of her. Soon after she had finished, the nurse had arrived to take her for her tests. The moment she had been dreading had came, she knew what they would find and the questions that would result from it, she could only hope that the policeman wouldn't come back.<p>

The tests were tedious and seemingly never-ending. All the adults involved had been overly cheerful at first, until the results had began to come back to them. She could almost pinpoint the exact moment the atmosphere had changed. The smiles had become more strained, the jokes and laughter more forced, the whispers louder. They thought she hadn't noticed, but she had, and the heavy feeling in the pit of her stomach had been growing steadily larger ever since.

She was almost ready to throw up with worry by the time they got back to the room. The feeling increasing almost sevenfold when she saw that the policeman was waiting for her, her bag in his hands.

After a nod from the policeman, the nurse had left them alone, Anna was still in the wheelchair they had been using to take her everywhere and he was still on the bed, watching her silently as she stared almost hungrily at the bag.

"I hear you don't talk." He stated, almost innocently, as if he had been commenting on the weather. "I brought your bag back." He added a few seconds later after getting no response. "Everything's still in it, we just had to check it in case your name or address was in it since your not exactly forthcoming with the information yourself." He offered her the bag as he spoke, smiling when she hesitated before snatching it from his grasp. She, only just, managed to stop herself from checking the contents. She would do it later when no one was watching.

"I'm Sgt. Nelson, you might remember me from the other night." He continued, somewhat more seriously, this time. "I just had an interesting talk with your doctor. It seems like you've had some nasty falls. You want to talk about it?" This was it, she thought as her blood ran cold. This was when she was normally expected to smile and run off another excuse, about how clumsy she was, how she had to be more careful. When she was supposed to lie and pretend that everything was OK. _But I don't have to do it any more, _she thought fiercely. _I'm safe now. I'm safe._

Her face betrayed nothing of her inner turmoil, she had a lot of practice after all. Unlike the others, he didn't seem to mind that she wasn't answering any of his questions, that she showed no emotion other than boredom at their caring tones.

"They were also wondering where you've been the last few days, because you weren't looking so good when I took you here. You were malnourished, do you know what that means?" He questioned, barely pausing in his monologue before, continuing on regardless. "It means that you haven't been getting the proper nutrition, that you weren't eating the right kinds of food. You probably just weren't eating your vegetables." He paused again, this time to lean in slightly, as if he was about to reveal a huge secret. "I don't like them much either." He whispered, smiling widely at her. Strangely, it didn't seem as fake as the other's had.

"They also had to cut your hair, as it was a bit matted. That must have come as a bit of a shock. You suit it though." He glanced quickly at his watch, a movement that Anna was sure she wasn't supposed to catch. "Anyway, I have to go now, but I'll be back soon." He assured quickly. "I hope you have a good night's sleep."

As soon as he had left, Anna delved into her bag, meticulously checking that everything was there and in the same condition as it had been in. She sighed in relief at her findings, everything was fine, now all she had to do was get out of here. But she should get some sleep first,she decided on catching sight of the bed, the day's events had exhausted her. She might even get another meal in the morning.

Her decision made, she quickly got into the bed, her bag clasped firmly against her, she wasn't taking any more chances with it. She would take it and leave first thing in the morning, right after breakfast. Sleep claimed her quickly that night, phantoms of eggs and sausages dancing across her vision.

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><p><strong>AN: So I'm back, holiday was epic but coming back to rain and a young boy getting stabbed to death in your street for no reason isn't all that great. Welcome to Inverclyde much. I hate this place.**

**Anyway, just a quick note as I wanted to thank everyone for their reviews. **

**Once again, I'd love it if you'd tell me what you think. **


	3. It's Alright If There's Nothing More To

****Disclaimer: Everything and everyone recognisable belongs to Jacqueline Wilson and the BBC. Anna and Mrs. Bishop however belong to me.****

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><p><strong>Happy Fudge Day peoples!<strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: It's Alright If There's Nothing More To Say.<strong>

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><p>She had missed her chance. She had been sloppy and her decision to stay for breakfast had cost her, her opportunity. The policeman – Sgt. Nelson, she corrected herself – had kept his promise and materialised in her hospital room just as she was finishing her meal. He hadn't left her side since, it was almost as if he had known about her plans to escape.<p>

He was watching her again, from across the room, his face as expressionless as hers. She tried to seem unconcerned, focusing her attention on everything and anything that wasn't him. Though it was getting harder the longer she stayed in the small room, there wasn't much to look at that she hadn't already seen. They were waiting for a social worker; her social worker. Apparently, the hospital wasn't allowed to let her leave the grounds without a suitable guardian, like her parents, and since that wasn't happening any time soon, she was being assigned a social worker. Sgt. Nelson had tried to assure her, tell her that everything was going to be alright, but she wasn't buying it. Social workers meant care homes and care homes meant... It was almost enough to make her want to go back. Almost.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a commotion by the door. A tall woman had entered the room, trying somewhat unsuccessfully to dismiss the overly-helpful attendant that had shown her to the room. She was dressed in a smart navy skirt suit and was clutching what appeared to be a bundle of folders and paper to her chest. She looked harassed and tense as she nodded respectively to Sgt. Nelson, but by the time she had turned back to Anna, her shoulder's had relaxed and there was a friendly smile fixed to her face.

Anna disliked her immediately. There was nothing about her to suggest that she was in any way a threat to the young girl, but the fake smile and the way she seemed to talk down to her put Anna on edge. She didn't like it when people, especially adults, treated her like she was stupid just because she didn't always like to talk. She - Mrs Bishop - asked her the same type of questions Sgt. Nelson and Dr. Mackay had the day before, but unlike the two men, she appeared to become more irritated the longer the interview wore on and Anna still refused to answer.

After more than an hour of quizzing, the social worker finally gave up with a resigned sigh. She looked more harassed now than she had when she had first entered, her once immaculately styled hair now heavily mussed due to repeatedly running her hand through it in frustration. Standing up from her perch on the edge of the table, she motioned for Sgt. Nelson to follow her outside. She had barely closed the door behind them before Anna had latched onto it, her ear pressed solidly against the wood in an attempt to hear what was being said about her.

At first she could distinguish nothing but random words that made no sense by themselves, but much to Anna's relief, their discussion soon became more heated allowing more of what was being said to trickle through. From what she could hear, Anna discovered that the social worker wanted to place her into a home where she could receive "Special Attention." She gulped audibly when she heard that, automatically imagining the worst. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to stay silent after all, they probably thought she was a head case or something. To her ever increasing horror, she then heard Sgt. Nelson agree whole-heartedly, he even went as far as to suggest somewhere that he thought would work. A place called Elm Tree.

Anna backed away from the door, her horror quickly dissolving into anger. _How dare they, _she thought furiously. _How dare they assume to know what was best for her. They didn't know anything about her... about what she had been through. They couldn't just cart her off into the unknown. What gave them the right? What made them think she would even go along with their plans?_ Anna paused in her musings as the beginnings of plan formed itself in her mind. _Or maybe she should, at least until she got into the home. Then she would be able to escape and could be left alone once more. She'd just have to keep a sharper look out for the police._

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><p>After the decision had been made, the next few hours passed in a daze for Anna. She was poked and prodded by nurses once more as they made sure that she was OK before they discharged her. She was given new clothes to wear and offered an array of old toys to choose from, she didn't particularly like any of them but chose a somewhat battered looking teddy bear as it seemed expected of her, and she didn't want to make them think that she was resisting in anyway. If they thought she was complying, she guessed they wouldn't watch her as closely as they should, giving her a chance to run.<p>

Her new social worker had been there the entire time, watching her impassively. Even now as they sat in the car on their way to the care home, her eyes repeatedly shifted in Anna's direction. She kept her eyes fixed on the window, not necessarily focusing on the scenery but glad for the excuse to look away from Mrs. Bishop. She was nervous, her stomach in knots as questions slowly filled her mind. _What if the other kids didn't like her, or were mean? What if the carers were cruel? What if...?_ She closed her eyes and let her forehead rest on the cool glass of the window. _What if the place turns out to be nice? What if she made friends, ones that she didn't have to lie to?_ But those were pointless hopes, ones she knew had no chance of coming true. She scrunched her eyes tighter to stop any tears from escaping, it didn't matter anyway, she was gone as soon as she got the chance.

It was getting late in the afternoon when Mrs Bishop finally declared that they were nearing their destination. Anna sat up straighter in her chair and began to pay more attention to her surroundings. They were cruising slowly up a long driveway lined with trees, looking back over her shoulder, she could see that the street was almost blocked from view. The house they were approaching was a rather grand two storey building painted in a light cream with red doors. There were benches under the two lower front windows and a wooden sign under a tree in front of it all, declaring that it was indeed Elm Tree house. Anna couldn't help but wonder if the tree beside the sign was elm, or if that would be to cheesy and obvious. The whole effect was picturesque and she couldn't help but feel calmer at the sight of it, making her frown in distaste. _Nice houses don't always mean nice people, you should know that better than anyone, _she scolded herself, furiously.

Mrs Bishop stepped out of the car first, lifting her files into her arm's and hanging Anna's bag onto her shoulder before moving around to the other side of the car and opening the door. Anna herself had sat rigidly the whole time, her gaze fixed upon the house in front of her. Taking a deep breath, she climbed out of the open door with her head held high and her back straight. She wasn't going to let them think she was weak. She followed Mrs. Bishop's quick advance with a determined step of her own, the only outward sign of her inner turmoil was the whiteness of her knuckles as she clutched her small bag possessively close to her body.

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><p>Anna lay on top of the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. So much happened in the past two weeks, hell the past few hours, that she wasn't sure how to react any more. Walking into the home had been like walking into a new school on your first day. The first thing that hits you is the noise, the one that's so familiar yet alien at the same time, filled with the cries of children you don't know. The second is the realisation that everyone already knows one another and you're all alone, an outsider. She had experienced the situation a few times before, but never quite like this. It wasn't everywhere that the kids all stopped and stared so openly, not even attempting to hide their curiosity, or hostility. It wasn't like a school when she was personally introduced to the other children – or rather they were introduced to her. And it wasn't like a school when some of the girls where actually nice to her, without any apparent ulterior motive. She wasn't sure yet but Carmen, Lily and Tee had seemed nice. They had invited her to sit with them, only mildly confused when she wouldn't talk, – the head social worker, Mike, had apparently told them about her, but the kids had assumed it was an act for the benefit of the social workers – they quickly got over it though, busying themselves instead with telling her about Elm Tree and the other kids and when that failed chattering amiably amongst themselves, while still trying to include her.<p>

She hadn't really met any of the others yet, but if they were anything like the three girls this place wouldn't be so bad, if she decided to stay that is. She was debating whether or not to try and scout the house and see how the place worked, when soft piano music floated up from below making her smile. _Finally. Someone who likes good music, _she thought distractedly, already lost in the melody. It was one of her favourites; Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor – The Appassionata. Her fingers twitched in time with the music, playing the solo on her bed covers as her eyes fell closed in contentment.

She must have fallen asleep mid rendition, because the next sound she became aware of was loud, rather boisterous laughter coming from outside her room. Jumping upright, she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and quickly changed clothes. If the rest of the children were awake, she must have slept in. She hurried from the room only to pause in the middle of the staircase, her nerves from the day before coming back in force. _What if last night really was just an act to trick the new girl?_

"Anna."

She looked up automatically, the blood draining from her face as she realised the implications behind her acknowledgement. Shocked, she stared dumbly into Mike's open face as he continued to talk, barely hearing anything that he said.

"Anna." He repeated once more, making her flinch whilst successfully gaining her attention "It's alright, just follow me into the office and we'll talk OK?." She nodded numbly in response, she felt so detached from herself that it almost felt like she was floating after Mike. She stayed standing in the office, declining the chair offered to her as Mike shut the door behind them.

"How...how did you find out?" She asked quietly, her voice sounding strange to her own ears. It had been a while since she had last conversed with someone.

"Your parents reported you missing, did you know that? One of the nurses recognised you from the description they gave and contacted them yesterday. There was a lot of red tape to go through so it took awhile for anything to happen. They're travelling down here as we speak and should arrive soon."

Anna could feel Mike's gaze on her but she couldn't make herself respond. The numb feeling had spread itself throughout her body and she felt cold and shaky. _Maybe she should have sat down when he offered. _He was speaking again, she could see his lips moving as they formed the words but it was like she had gone deaf and nothing was getting through. Distractedly, she noticed that the window behind Mike offered a perfect view of the garden, which was currently occupied by two of the boys from yesterday playing football on the grass outside. She watched them laughing together and wondered fleetingly if they had been the ones to wake her up that morning. She was brought roughly back to reality however when she heard Mike mention her father having a surprise for her. It was like all her senses were focused on that one sentence. Her hearing suddenly became sharper and the lighting in the room seemed to bright.

"...they don't blame you for running away. In fact your dad said that he missed you and had a surprise waiting for you for when you got home."

She turned sharply to face him, her neck twinging painfully from the movement. Her lips moved silently as she tried to form the words, but nothing would come out. The shakes got worse, intensifying so that her whole body appeared to be affected. She saw Mike stepping towards her and backed away quickly, only stopping when her back hit the wall. "No." She finally managed, shaking her head empahtically to emphasise her point. "No, no, no, no..." She couldn't stop it even if she wanted to, she wasn't in control any longer as she slid down the wall and brought her arms around her knees so that she was hugging her legs tightly. She didn't know when she started crying or when Mike left the room, but he soon came back, flanked by two of the other social workers all of them looking at her in concern.

"Anna, it's OK. You don't have to see them if you don't want to. I promise." It was the older woman with the nice accent, she was kneeling now on the ground in front of her, her hands placed warmly on Anna's own in an act of comfort.

"You don't have to say anything else, we understand and your safe here. Your safe."

She wasn't sure how it happened, if she had leaned into her or if she had been pulled in, but either way she found herself enclosed in a warm embrace, secure and, dare she even think it, safe?

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><p><strong>AN: I'm not sure how well Gus plays the piano or if he would even know the piece mentioned, so there's some artistic licence on that part. The parents make an appearance in the next chapter. **

**Review? They fill me with warm fuzzies lol. **


	4. So I'm Running Away

**Disclaimer: Everything recognised belongs to Jacqueline Wilson and the BBC. Anna, her grandmother and her parents however belong to me.**

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><p><strong>After finding out that the 16th was Fudge Day, I did a little research and found out that today, the 19th, is among other things Eat an Oreo day. I have a new found respect for holidays after finding out this information haha. <strong>

**So, Happy Eat An Oreo Day! I hope it was filled with chocolatey goodness.**

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><p><strong><span>Chapter 3: So I'm Running Away, I'm Leaving This Place.<span>**

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><p>She was back in the room she had slept in the night before. After crying herself hoarse, Gina; the care worker with the nice accent, had led her back there, advising her to try and get some rest. Like that was going to happen. Her parents – her father, knew where she was and were at that moment on their way to get her. Gina and Mike had explained to her that the social work department and the police had to talk to her parents about her <em>situation.<em>

Her situation, she mused, was that her parents knew where she was in the first place. Surprisingly, she found she was less afraid of that fact than she had been just the day before. Less maybe, but her fear was still there, lurking constantly in the back of her mind like a nightmare. She knew she wouldn't be able to face them – face him, without breaking down completely. Restless and with nothing to do – she couldn't find the courage needed to face the other children just yet – she paced her room fitfully, eventually coming to stand in front of the full length mirror that adorned the pine wardrobe resting against one of the walls. She stared into it intently, somewhat shocked by what she saw.

Looking back at her was a young girl with extremely short, light brown hair and sad green eyes. A dusting of freckles spanned across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose and her mouth was turned down into a frown, the overall effect making her look scared and lonely. She hesitantly raised a hand to her hair, smoothing down the wayward curls with shaking fingers. Carrying on her inspection, her fingers left her hair and travelled slowly down to her face where they gently traced the scar that ran along the left side of her jaw. That one had needed snitches, and a lot of them. She had told the doctor treating her that she had fallen from her bike and he had believed her, by then she had perfected her act of seeming both embarrassed at what had happened and remorseful for wasting the doctors time. It was one that nearly always guaranteed a deflection of awkward questions.

The truth was that her father had pushed her, causing her to fall against the kitchen counter. The worst part had been that he wasn't even trying to hurt her, his entire demeanour at the time had been dismissive, and he had shoved her merely because she had been in his way. When he really wanted to hurt her he was more calculatingly and cruel. She remembered the time he had hit her so hard that two of her teeth had been knocked out. He had locked her in her room afterwards and the blood had poured from her mouth onto the floor and down her throat. At the time it was the only way she knew she was alive.

He had made her clean up the mess her blood had made after finally coming to let her out, and after the normal apology for her bad behaviour. She couldn't remember what it was she had done that time, whether it was bad grades or a lack of proper table manners. But she could remember the pain from it still being there almost a week later when she had attended her grandmothers funeral. A dull throbbing that combated with the grief, an anguish that felt like a knife was being twisted through her heart.

Anna had been close to her grandmother, who after being diagnosed with an early onset of Alzheimer's had been sent to live in a nursing home close to where Anna went to school; or at least the school she had went to at the time. The close proximity had meant Anna had spent a lot of time with her mother's mother, time spent learning how to play chess and discussing music. Her Nana had known nothing of the turmoil the young girl experienced at home and so Anna was able to spend a few hours each week pretending to be normal, to have a normal family. That was until her symptoms began to worsen. She had become more disorientated and on a few occasions had even failed to recognise Anna for who she really was, thinking instead that she was just someone doing community service or a member of one of the other residents family.

Anna had been distressed by her beloved Nana's frail condition, but continued to visit her, playing along with the theory that she was just a kindly visiting schoolgirl if the need arose. She forced herself to keep looking forward to the good days, the days when she was recognised and they would play the piano together, until they started to get fewer and farther apart. She had eventually died from pneumonia and Anna's whole world had come crashing down around her. Things that she had learned to take over the past few years became too hard to handle and the abuse seemed so much worse now that she no longer had an escape from it.

It was soon after the funeral, a week, maybe two, when she made the decision to run away. She had thought about it before, but fear had always stopped her. Fear that her father would figure out was she was doing before she could leave, fear that the police would find her and bring her back, fear that she would fail. She had still felt fear then but grief had numbed it, making it easier to overcome. She diligently planned every detail, right down to what she would take and when she would do it. She had waited until they her parents were both out for the night, at some party or another and came out from her room, her first act of rebellion and something she wouldn't normally have done. She had immediately went to where she knew her mother kept some savings and raided the lot, knowing she would need money to survive. Next she had grabbed the few possessions she truly cared about, mostly keepsakes of her grandmothers, a few clothes and ran, leaving her past behind and determined to never go back.

She scoffed at herself in the mirror as she remembered those first few days on the streets. She had been so young and naïve to think that she could have fended so easily for herself. It had soon been knocked out of her though. After only a couple of hours, a group of older kids had taken her money, and the bag containing all her clothes had been taken as she slept in a park on her second night, all she had been left with was her grandmothers trinkets.

The noise of a car pulling into the driveway brought her back to the present. With trepidation, she made her way slowly to the open window at the other side of the room. Her heart was hammering in her chest as she looked out onto the scene below. From the position of her window she could only just make out the back end of a police car with her fathers silver Honda civic parked behind it. She would recognize that car anywhere after scouring each street she walked down for any sign of it.

Frustrated despite herself that she couldn't quite see what was going on, she remembered that the window by the top of the stairs looked down almost directly onto the driveway. Taking determined, if somewhat shaky steps, she hurriedly stepped out into the hall, striding quickly towards the window. Looking down, she saw that Mrs Bishop, accompanied with a man dressed in an equally smart suit and along with two policeman had intercepted her parents as they tried to enter the building. Leaning closer, so that her nose was pressed against the glass, she could also see Mike standing slightly apart from the group.

Hands trembling in fear, she fought with the rusty latch attached to the window, desperate for it to open so that she could hear what might become of her. Finally, and with such force as to cause her to stumble forward, the window opened. Just in time for her to hear her father's angry voice, demanding to see her.

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><p><strong>AN: So I kinda lied, the parents aren't really introduced until next chapter. I didn't think I'd have this up till Monday night at the earliest but I had a burst of inspiration and pretty much powered through most of the chapter in about an hour haha. **

**Was at In:Demand Live with my sister yesterday for her birthday and I'm seriously suffering for it now. My voice is dead and I'm covered in bruises. Both signs of an epic gig haha.**

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><p><strong>ReviewsCritiques/Feedback in general is always appreciated, so please click on the review link below and share your thoughts.**


	5. Don't Tell Me I'm The One To Blame

**Disclaimer: Everything and everyone recognised in this fic belongs to Jacqueline Wilson and the BBC. Anna, Mrs Bishop and her parents belong to me. So same old, same old really.**

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><p><strong>The holiday thing amuses so; Happy Camera Day! I have no idea what to make of this one haha.<strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter 4: Don't Tell Me I'm The One To Blame.<strong>

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><p><em>Finally, and with such force as to cause her to stumble forward, the window opened. Just in time for her to hear her father's angry voice, demanding to see her. <em>

She gasped loudly upon hearing his voice, her knees nearly buckling beneath her in fright. Shakily, she pressed her forehead against the cool glass willing herself to calm down, to get back in control. She couldn't fall back into that life, he shouldn't be able to make her feel that scared. Breathing deeply, she straightened up once more, looking down at them as they once looked down at her.

Her father drew her attention immediately. He was dressed in his normal suit and tie, a smart, dark grey ensemble that seemed to radiate wealth the way he himself radiated power. He was an imposing man. Tall with broad shoulders and dark wavy hair, always immaculately dressed, he presented himself as an average father and businessman, only his temper betrayed his image but it was barely seen by the outside world.

Her mother in comparison seemed dwarfed by his presence. She was petite, her head barely reaching his shoulder as she stood next to him. They say that opposites attract, and Anna always felt that the saying was particularly true when it came to her parents. Even now as she stood beside him in the late afternoon sunlight, she appeared to shrink from him and everyone around them. Her entire demeanour was timid, mousey brown hair surrounding a mouth that never seemed to smile and eyes that always looked sad. She flinched every time her father's voice raised in anger as he argued with those around them, an unconscious movement that many wouldn't notice, but Anna had seen it before and pretty much expected it.

Her father was getting angrier, she could see the signs. His hands were clenched into fists and his face, his eyes had taken on that blank look he usually got before he exploded. She knew her mother sensed it too as she was twitching nervously, her eyes darting around her as if looking for an escape. No one else seemed to notice, they carried on questioning him like nothing was happening, like he wasn't about to erupt. The social workers were trying to get them to go back their office for a chat, they kept repeating that it was just procedure and that the police were only there as as precaution, but he wasn't buying it and to be honest Anna couldn't really blame him.

The muscle above his eyebrow was starting to twitch and she watched guardedly as her mother actually took a step away from him. He repeated, loudly and clearly, his need to see his daughter – _his _not theirs - saying that he was sorry for any trouble she caused, how everything would be alright if they would just let them, let him, take her home. But they refused just as Gina had promised, insisting that they had things to discuss. That was when he started to get really angry. He threatened to sue, go to the papers, their superiors, whatever it took to get his daughter back.

Anna would never forget what Mike did for her at that moment. He stepped in from the shadows and quickly calmed the situation, diverting what could have been a disaster for Anna. Finally, and with surprisingly little resistance compared to her fathers earlier tirade, her parents left, following the social workers in their car.

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><p>She sighed as they left, feeling curiously saddened by the sight of them leaving. She couldn't figure it out. The sight of them – of him – had filled her with such fear, making her want to be as far away as possible, but at the same time, she had wanted to go out to them, to have them hug her and tell her everything would be alright from now on. She felt so conflicted, she didn't know it was possible to love someone but fear them, hate them even at the same time. A voice behind her startled her from her thoughts.<p>

"Was that all for you then?" She spun around sharply, coming face to face with one of the boys she had seen earlier in the garden. He was far closer to her than she expected and she was upset with herself for not noticing him sooner. He raised an eyebrow questionably and she realised she had been staring at him for a few seconds too long. At a loss on how to react, she shrugged a shoulder non-committally, crossing her arms in front of her defensively.

"I'm Liam by the way." He introduced, his smile faltering slightly as she didn't respond. "You really don't talk do you?" He asked, more inquisitive than anything else. "I wouldn't worry about them," he added nodding in the direction of the window. "Mike and Gina will see you right."

He wasn't looking at her any more making it easier for her to get a better look at him. He was a bit older than her, three years at most, with short dark hair and a cheeky smile and he was instantly likeable.

"Anyway I've got stuff to do, so...I'll see you later." He shot her a grin as he was leaving, making her smile back automatically.

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><p>The younger care workers - Tracy and Liam - found her still by the window a while later. She saw them exchanging worried glances as they saw her and her stomach dropped.<p>

"Hey!" Tracy greeted softly. "How're you doing?" She didn't reply. She didn't know if she trusted the two of them yet. Another worried look was traded and Anna almost rolled her eyes in exasperation. How many more sympathetic glances was she expected to take?

"They're waiting for you in the office." Liam stated kindly. "We'll take you down there if you want?" She barely had to think about it before shaking her head in the negative, stepping away from the window and heading down the stairs before they could stop her. She hesitated before knocking on the door of the office, clenching her hands in determination and taking a deep breath to stop the butterflies in her stomach. All talking petered out as she entered, their attention coming to rest on her as moved further into the room making her cringe inwardly under their scrutiny.

Mrs Bishop was the first to speak, her tone almost sickly sweet as she addressed the girl. "Anna, it's good to see you again." She found herself catching Gina's eye, automatically looking to the large women for assurance. The small nod she gave was all the support she needed for the moment, after all she had been right about her parents, nobody had forced her to see them. Smiling softly in return she took the proffered chair, glad of it's solidness.

"Good, now there's something we need to discuss." She continued, still in the same tone. Anna looked up questionably but said nothing, she still wasn't sure about her social worker either. "Now the most important thing to remember in all of this is that you're not the one to blame. It's not your fault."

"_...he was sorry for any trouble she caused...they don't blame you for running away...you're not the one to blame...it's not your fault." _She couldn't stop these thoughts from running through her mind, it was like a loop, a song that kept skipping over the same few lyrics. Why did they keep telling her she wasn't to blame? Was it because they secretly thought she was, that it was all her fault? She felt tears pricking at the corner of her eyes threatening to spill over until a warm hand resting gently on her shoulder pulled her back to her surroundings. Focusing back on what was happening around her, she was almost amused to find that Mrs Bishop had carried on talking regardless of where her attention lay.

"You're parents really want to see you but that might not be a good idea right now. So you're going to stay here for a while. Is that OK?" Anna nodded uncertainly, unsure how she felt about the new development.

"Good!" She repeated, her face breaking into a smile as she realised that the young girl was being co-operative. "Unfortunately I have to go but if you need to get a hold of me both Mike and Gina have my number." She had been gathering her effects as she spoke and was now ready to leave, hovering before the door in case anyone had anything to add. When no one spoke up she left, calling a goodbye over her shoulder. Silence followed her exit and she caught Mike and Gina exchanging amused glances. Mike was the one to break it, smiling widely at her as he spoke, his Irish brogue evident in his voice, cheering her slightly.

"Well since you're going to be here for a bit we'll have to get you acquainted with how things work around here, but first, dinner! Gina has made her famous curry, what do you think? You want some? It's good." His smile was so infectious that she couldn't help but smile back at him, nodding at the mention of dinner, she had missed breakfast after all.

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><p>At first dinner had been awkward, the other kids had stared at her in a less than subtle manner. There was no menace behind their looks but Anna still felt uncomfortable under their scrutiny, so much so that the curry, despite being incredibly good, kept sticking in her throat making her choke. Ironically it was her reactions that allowed the tension to be eased. Liam – the boy that had spoken to her earlier, laughingly asked her if the curry was too spicy for her causing the others to laugh good naturedly at her red face as much as the joke. Just like that the atmosphere changed dramatically, becoming more casual and easy going. She looked to Liam thankfully and he winked back at her causing her to blush once more. She quickly ducked her head though to hide it.<p>

Just as they were finishing a desert of ice cream one of the younger boys brought attention back to Anna. He looked younger than her and was dressed in a blue polo shirt buttoned up to the top. He had short curly dark hair and an inquisitive gaze that was at that point directed solely on her.

"Can't you talk? Mike just says you don't? Does that mean you chose not to, or you can't? Can you use sign language?" He barely waited for her to answer which confused Anna almost as much as the actual questions.

"Did you know that four babies are born deaf everyday? And that there are over 45,000 deaf children living in the UK?" She looked at him dumbfounded, once again completely unsure of how to react. Looking around her she found she wasn't the only one staring at the young boy strangely. In fact, it seemed almost everyone at the table had stopped to gape at him in what she could only guess was disbelief.

"Gus! That's enough." Mike interjected kindly as the boy seemed to be about to say something else.

"I was only asking." He stated defensively. "And no one's answered yet." Mike looked briefly at Anna before replying slowly, as if he was picking each word carefully.

"Sometimes people find it hard to talk about what they've been through, you should all know that from personal experience. And sometimes...sometimes people find it hard to communicate with others if they don't trust them, or if they're scared. Or sometimes they just don't know what to say or how to say it. It doesn't mean there's something wrong with them."

Anna had sat completely still as he had spoke. Her face burning with embarrassment once more. She could feel everyone's eyes on her and kept her head down, wishing she still had her long hair to hide behind. Everything he said made sense to her, it was like he understood her and that scared her a little.

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><p>Anna lay on top of her bed, staring at the ceiling. A soft melody she couldn't name was drifting up from below as Gus practised diligently on the piano. It soothed her just as it had done on her first night there, allowing her to relax. She used her time alone to think about her options. Running away was still an alternative but she was finding it a less than attractive one the longer she stayed here. For the first time in years she felt like she was out of danger, like she didn't have to constantly watch how she acted and what she said and she didn't want to give that up.<p>

The melody changed, becoming harsher, more enthusiastic. Anna's fingers twitched in response as she recognised the piece; Rachmaninov Prelude Op32 No. 12, one of her grandmother's favourites to play. She couldn't help but think that if the boy – Gus, kept playing pieces like this she might just have to stay.

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><p><strong>AN: Sorry about the wait, my mum's room was getting redecorated and things got a bit hectic, especially when I nearly dropped her new wardrobe down the stairs haha.**

**Is it just me or does Anna blank out a lot?**

**Review please? **


	6. It's Too Late For You To Make Me Stay

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything worth owning in here, the BBC and Jacqueline Wilson do.**

**Today's weird holiday is crap so I'm deciding to promote the fact that July is apparently anti-boredom month. So in the spirit of things here's a new chapter that will hopefully cheer people up, or at least prevent boredom. Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 5:: It's Too Late For You To Make Me Stay.<strong>

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><p>Laughter exploded from the living room behind her as she made her way out, a huge smile on her face. She couldn't believe how much fun the kids were here, Liam and Frank especially were hysterical. They played on each other, bouncing jokes and taunts against the other like warring comedians each trying to best the other, but it was all in good fun. At first she had struggled to understand the tall boy due to his speech impediment, however seeing the others having no trouble with it had made her to try harder until she to could make out what he was saying, well mostly, there were still some things that she couldn't quite grasp. Walking towards the office once more, it seemed like she had spent more time in there than she had anywhere else in the house the last day or so, she knocked timidly at the door, still smiling amiably as a voice called out telling her to enter.<p>

They were all in there already; Gina, Mike and Mrs. Bishop, as well as a fourth person who she didn't recognise. She was younger than the others in the room, closer to Tracy's age yet still a few years older. Her hair was scraped back from her face in a severe bun and her clothes could only be described as professional; a smart dark coloured skirt suit complete with a crisp white shirt. She hadn't realised she had been openly staring at her until Gina's hand grasped her shoulder in welcome as she introduced her to the newcomer.

"Anna this is Ms. Campbell, she's your Children's Guardian." She smiled slightly in greeting as Ms. Campbell extended her hand to her, holding out her own to be grasped tightly.

"It's nice to meet you." She intoned, her voice sounding detached as she looked at the girl, studying her. It was silent after she spoke and Anna realised that no one was going to explain what a Children's Guardian was. Gathering courage from the warm weight from Gina's hand which still rested on her shoulder, she spoke up somewhat hesitantly.

"What...What's a Children's Guardian?" She refused to look at anyone as she spoke, choosing instead to focus on an innocuous point on the wall, because of her invasiveness she missed the looks traded between Mike, Gina and Mrs. Bishop as they realised she was beginning to open up, though obviously reluctantly. Ms. Campbell was the first to answer, which Anna thought was good. Who else but a Children's Guardian would be the best to explain what they themselves do? Although interested in the answer Anna couldn't quite meet the woman's eyes as she spoke, choosing instead to look at a point just above her shoulder to show that she was paying attention.

"Well..." She hesitated almost as soon as she began, clearly searching for a good way to word it. "A Children's Guardian is someone who is experienced in social work. They are chosen by the court to make sure that the children's opinions and needs are taken care of when they have to deal with social services. We're independent from social services though, so we aren't under the same restraints they are. We pretty much just make sure children like you are taken care of properly when they are in most in need of it." She couldn't help her head from jerking up to the new woman's face as she mentioned court, but neither of them said anything about it.

"Isn't that what a social worker does?" She asked once she knew she had finished her explanation.

"Yes, but Social Workers tend to work with the whole family, we deal solely with you. Which means that we will be spending a lot of time together, it helps us to find out what would be best for you."

Anna was quiet once more as she mulled over the new information. She could hear the grown ups talking amongst themselves but wasn't paying much attention to what was being said. If the courts were involved her father wasn't going to be very happy, but then again he never was. Maybe they would let her stay here, Ms. Campbell had said that she would take her feelings into consideration and Gina seemed to trust her. Paying attention to what was happening around her once more, she was surprised to find both Gina and Mrs. Campbell staring at her silently. Smiling awkwardly under their intense gaze, she was relieved when they turned back to the others, Mrs. Campbell taking a bit longer than Gina to do so. Her relief was short lived though as she soon discovered that Gina had only turned her attention away to alert the others to the fact that she was now listening. They seemed to have a silent discussion between themselves on who would speak first, evidently Mike won, or lost depending on what way you looked at it, because he was the first one to step forward towards her.

"Anna, I'm going to give it to you straight OK? Your parents have requested a meeting with you, and the thing is, we can't technically say no."

"I, I have to meet them? But you said, you said..." Her voice trailed off as her breathing became harsher and harder to catch as her panic grew. She felt her hands begin to throb painfully and realised that her hands were clenched tightly into fists. Gina once more tried to place a comforting hand on her shoulder, only to have it shrugged away almost violently. She couldn't stand to have any of them near her at the moment, especially not Gina, she had promised that she didn't need to see them if she didn't want to.

"Anna, I know what we said, what I said, but it's been taken out of our hands. There's nothing we can do, I'm sorry child." She turned to face the large woman after hearing the pain in her voice.

"But, but what if..." Hot tears began to flow down her cheeks and she gave up completely on trying to speak, crumbling in on herself instead as her legs gave out from under her. Gina was, quite luckily, there to catch her and she once more felt herself enveloped in the comfort she brought. She was finding it hard to think or move or do anything but stay where she was at that moment, except for the one single instinctive need to escape that coursed through her very veins, her thoughts were blank.

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><p>The corridor was dark, the only light coming from the security lights outside that were placed on the front of the house near the main entrance. The dim glow they offered only served to enhance the shadows though, making them more pronounced rather than chasing them away. She trailed her hand along the wall as she went, keeping her balance as she walked on her tiptoes to try and minimise the noise she was making. Every sound around her made her jump and the larger groupings of shadows had her pausing each time she passed them, her nervousness increasing with each step. She wouldn't let them catch her though, they would stop her and she couldn't let that happen, she couldn't go back to them.<p>

She had waited till the early hours of the morning before moving, lying stiffly on the bed as the minutes seemed to drag endlessly. Just when it felt like she would scream from the tension building around her, everything finally settled down and she had made her move, throwing back the covers to reveal her already clothed body and exiting her room. She had thought about taking some money like she had before, but she couldn't quite force herself to steal from those who had helped her, or at least tried to, she wasn't sure how she would support herself but she didn't have a choice, she had to leave.

Stepping carefully down the last couple of stairs she made a last minute decision to go through the kitchen and out the back door, rationalising that it would less likely that anyone would see her if she sneaked out the back, away from the main roads. She was almost at the kitchen door when she thought she heard a noise from inside, straining her hears in the hope that she was imagining things, she felt her body tense in anticipation. A few seconds had barely passed when she heard it again, a muffled bang from inside of the kitchen. Swivelling round, she quickly decided to just go out the front door, not caring if someone outside saw her or not. It would take them a while to figure out she was the one they would be looking for, if they even found out. She had barely taken a step when her foot connected with a wayward shoe lying haphazardly in the hall causing her to fall forward onto her outstretched hands.

It was the noise her impact made rather than any pain it caused that made her wince. Almost instantly she heard the noise in the kitchen become clearer as the person inside obviously began to make their way towards her. Scrabbling frantically, she tried to get back up only to trip over her bag , once more falling onto the floor with enough force to knock the wind out of her. She was lying with her face pressed into the carpet, the stinging in her nose alerting her to the fact that the carpet had burned her and badly if the pain was anything to go by. Before she could even contemplate getting up an amused chuckle broke through her inner monologue of cursing. Turning her head slightly so that her cheek rested against the carpet, she glanced up to see Liam lounging against the door frame, arms crossed over his chest and a huge smirk on his face.

"It's a good thing I'm so used to girls falling at my feet or this would be awkward." He stated, the smirk still on his face as looked down at her, causing Anna to glare at him. It seemed to have little effect though, if anything it seemed to get bigger. Glaring harder she moved into a sitting position, wincing slightly as she put weight onto her right hand, from the slight throbbing she knew she had sprained it. She was once again stuck for words, a situation that was beginning to frustrate her immensely, she wanted to be able to voice some stinging retort that would stop him in his tracks, maybe even make him respect her a little, not that she needed anyone, especially him, to respect her. She didn't get the chance to even attempt a comeback before he said something that sent her mind into a whirl.

"Why are you dressed? Is that your bag yo...You're running away aren't you?" He was frowning now, no trace of his previous amusement left on his face. She felt like a bucket of cold water had been thrown over her, she couldn't believe she had been caught. But it didn't matter she was still going and there was nothing he could do to make her stay. Standing up in anger, she brushed herself down and grabbed her bag, fully prepared to push past the nosy boy and continue with her plan. She had almost got to the door when she felt his hand grab her upper arm tightly, effectively stopping her in her tracks.

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><p><strong>AN: Late updates are late(y)! Sorry guys but summer has been heavy hectic so far between gigs, the ships, house parties and birthdays. Best part is I've got another holiday, two birthdays, another gig and trips to Thorpe Park and Alton Towers still to come. Don't know why I'm telling you all this but I'm excited and I love summer! Lol. **

**I'll try and keep the chaps coming more regularly though. **

**Any thoughts? **


	7. No I won't stay, so I'm running away

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognisable, including the chapter titles which are all lines from the song Running Away by Midnight Hour. It's a good song, you should check it out. :p**

**It's Happy Senior Citizen Day in America. Apparently Ronald Reagan made it a holiday when he was president. There weren't any fun ones for today. Gutted much?**

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><p><strong>Chapter 6: No I won't stay, so I'm running away. <strong>

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><p>Even in her disorientated state she couldn't help but notice that he wasn't wearing a t-shirt. She was scared, terrified really, and he was preventing her from escaping a terrible fate. But all she could think of was his half naked state and the fact that he was holding her in place rather close to him. She could feel his gaze burning into the top of her head as he stared at her questionably and shivered somewhat at the attention. She'd never felt like this before; like she was the only person in the world, like she was important. He was so close that she could feel warmth radiate from him like a furnace, it made her jumpy, edgy, like she was waiting from something to happen. She shook her head a little to dispel her thoughts, she was only twelve! What the hell was wrong with her to be thinking the things she was? Sure she had thought boys were cute before, had crushes, but this was different, it was electric. Liam cleared his throat, the distraction welcome as it brought her back to the situation, to the fact that she was supposed to be running away. Looking up into his face she felt herself flush at the direction her thoughts were going in and vainly tried to pull away from the young boy, her face scarlet.<p>

"Let me go Liam!" Her voice was barely more than a whisper as she spoke but her eyes were hard, determined as they stared back at him.

"Do you even know where you're going to go, what you're going to do?" He demanded, seemingly ignoring her as his grip only tightened. She shoved at him angrily with all the force she could muster, feeling pleased when he stumbled backwards, letting go of her arm as he did so.

"What would you know about it? Just leave me alone Liam, I can't stay here." She was breathing hard now in fury, trembling a little as she glared at him from where she stood just an arm's length away. She was expecting him to get angry, to rage back at her or at least show annoyance for questioning him, anything but what he actually did. It had started off as a snicker but his laughter soon became loud enough to wake up everyone else in the building causing her to try and shush him. As he calmed down a little at her insistence she soon realised what it was about his laugh that was bothering her – other than the loudness that was. It was bitter and harsh, a sound that was and should have been foreign to a fourteen year old's lips, it made her sad.

"I know a lot more than you think." His voice was low and mirthless, a contrast to the smile that still played around his mouth and it threw her off more than she thought it would. She could only stare at him then, all thoughts of leaving once more gone from her mind at something he had said or done. Shaking herself a little to try and break away from the stupor she had fallen into, she picked up her stuff and began walking backwards towards the door, facing him so that she could deliver what she thought was a good parting shot.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter anyway 'cause it's got _nothing_ to do with you." Spinning around and grabbing the handle, she barely had the door open an inch before it was slammed shut again. Sighing loudly at yet another intrusion in her plan, she allowed her eyes to follow the arm that rested above her head against the door, not stopping until she was glaring into the young boys face so that he would know her displeasure. "Seriously? You're still doing this? Why won't you just -" The hand covering her mouth prevented her from taking her rant any further and she was taken over by the sudden compulsion to either bite him or spit on it just to see his reaction. She did neither though as he began to speak, still so low that she almost had to lean in slightly to hear him, but with an intensity that kind of scared her.

"You need to stop the act and listen for a minute. From what we've heard, you weren't surviving all that well out there the first time round so what makes you think this times going to be any different?" He paused in his monologue long enough to pull back from her a little, though he still kept his hand over her mouth so she couldn't interrupt. "Look, I've already told you that Gina and Mike will do well by you, and I stand by it. They might not be able to stop the meeting with your parents," he hesitated then as he saw her look of confusion, grinning a little in smugness as he explained himself. "nothing stays secret in here for long, especially when Tracy and Cra – I mean Liam, fight about it, loudly, in the toy room. I mean really, those two kinda fail at _not_ letting us kids know about things." He leaned against the door frame, his stance becoming more casual as he realised she wasn't fighting him as much. "They're not gonna let anything happen to you and yes, I do know what I'm talking about." She was silent as she considered all that he had said, maybe he was right, but could she risk it? The thought of whether or not she would ever have a day in which she wouldn't have to worry about these kind of things any more passed fleetingly through her mind before she pushed it away, deciding to deal with it another day.

He was still staring at her, his brown eyes boring into hers as he waited for some kind of response. His hand was no longer over her mouth, leaving her the opportunity to speak freely, but she kind of missed the contact in a way she didn't quite want to admit even to herself. Clearing her throat to hide her nerves she too relaxed her composure, though she made sure to keep a tight hold of her bags. "You really heard everything?"

He shrugged a little trying to appear nonchalant. Only the look on his face let her know that he was serious. "More or less, but I wouldn't worry about it, we all have parent issues or we wouldn't be here," he reached over towards the table and picked up a mug that she hadn't noticed before then, waving it slightly in her direction. "do you want some, it's hot chocolate. Well, I don't think it's that hot any more but still."

"I think I'll pass," she raised her eyebrow a little in amusement as she answered, she couldn't believe that they were having a chat about hot chocolate now after everything that had just happened, it was a little surreal. "but thanks anyway."

"Your loss," he replied cheerfully as he took a swig from the cup, grimacing a little as he realised just how cold it had become. "on second thought, you probably made the right choice there." Still grimacing he placed the mug back on the table and pushed it a little so there was a fair bit of space between them. The look of disgust on his face had her giggling loudly though she tried to stifle it behind her hand. Any restraint disappeared however when he glared at her jokingly and her giggles dissolved into full blown laughter that she had to fight to control.

"All right it's not that funny." Liam stated, any animosity behind the statement belied by the small smile on his face.

"No, it kinda is," Anna replied cheekily, slightly taken aback by how easy it was for her to banter with someone. "you've got to admit, the look on your face was funny."

The smile on his face had grown into the cheeky grin that he was famous for at her comeback. "I wouldn't know, it's not like I saw it." She snorted at his response, clearly enjoying the conversation. It seemed like every time she was around him she managed to enjoy herself, a feat that she hadn't achieved in a while before coming here. The realisation only saddened her though as she remembered that it wouldn't be able to last. Smiling sadly she decided to try and go back out the front door since Liam was still blocking the exit to the garden. The young boy must have noticed the change in her demeanour however as he asked his next question.

"You're still going to go aren't you?" The smile had slid from his face, leaving him looking annoyed and a little disappointed. Looking at him, Anna couldn't help but feel bad, but only for a moment. It didn't last long as she soon became angry with herself for letting her mind drift away from what she was supposed to be doing.

"I have to," she stated simply. She was already at the door connecting the hall with the kitchen and could feel the solid wood behind her. She pressed her back against the door, hoping to feel some comfort from it. After seeing the distress on Liam's face she figured she'd need all the support she could get just to leave the room. "I told you I can't stay here, why can't you just understand that?" His expression stayed the same, his lips pressed tight as he refused to answer causing her to sigh in frustration. "Maybe, maybe I'll see you around." Her nerves had her stuttering slightly, and she felt heat flood her cheeks as he flashed her another, if half-hearted, cheeky smile.

"Yeah, maybe." Giving him a slight wave, then feeling immediately stupid for doing so, she pulled open the door and prepared to leave, swinging her bags in front of her as she went. She wasn't watching where she was going, paying too much attention to Liam instead, and so it took a moment for the fact that her bags had hit something to register, and an even longer moment – or so it seemed to her at the time, to turn and see what, or as the case turned out to be who she had hit.

Her eyes grew wide and she felt her mouth gape in what must have been a comical way. Trying unsuccessfully to hide the bags she had just used to hit him, she grinned sheepishly in what she hoped was an endearing way. "Hey Mike, want some hot chocolate?"

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><p><strong>Any reviewscritiques/funny stories/pineapples? Feel free to share. **


	8. And Faster Than You Can Follow Me

**Disclaimer: See previous chapters for declarations of non-ownership. **

**This chapter was starting to drag on a bit so I've decided to split it into two. The actual meeting between Anna and her parents will therefore be in the next chapter. Hope you guy's enjoy!**

**Happy National Toasted Marshmallow Day! May it be gooey and warm.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 7: And Faster Than You Can Follow Me, From This Lonely Place.<strong>

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><p>"No, thank you," his voice was terse and if anything his glare seemed to deepen at her question causing the smile to fall from her face. She couldn't help but wonder if he was angry at her, if he had heard what they had been talking about, about her leaving. "Liam I think it's about time you were in bed. It's getting late." He hadn't even looked at him as he spoke, his focus completely on her, deepening her concern.<p>

"But Mike -" Liam's pleas were cut off almost immediately by a glare from the irate care worker.

"Now, Liam! I'm not going to tell you again," she saw the look of confusion that crossed his face and took small comfort from the fact that Mike obviously wasn't someone who normally raised their voice in that manner. Liam left the room almost directly then after sensing the seriousness of the situation, stopping only to throw Anna a sympathetic smile as he went. She barely had time to reciprocate the action when she felt the full force of Mike's glare return to her. "so, did I here you right? You're planning on leaving us?" She was silent, unsure of how to answer, there was no way she could without incriminating herself. She either lied and got caught out if she was right and he heard her and Liam's conversation, or she told the truth and suffered the consequences.

Unfortunately, her silence only seemed to have the averse affect of making him angrier if his expression was anything to go by. "Anna," he paused, lifting his hand up to scrub his face lightly in frustration. "you must know how dangerous this is?" A note of pleading had entered his voice as he asked her, causing a jolt of guilt to course through her. It wasn't enough to make her choose though, so she kept silent, shrugging her shoulders lightly as a substitute. "Look, just go to bed. It's late and we can deal with in the morning," she watched, troubled as he sighed meaningfully before continuing, a stern look on his face. "but I'll be keeping an eye out so don't get any more ideas about trying again."

Having no choice but to agree, she slowly picked up her bags and edged her way past Mike to get to the door, hesitating only to throw an apology over her shoulder. "I'm sorry for waking you up Mike."

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><p>Walking down to breakfast she felt strange, nervous, like her heart was going to jump out of her chest. She was worried in case the others had found out about her attempt to run and made fun of her for it. It had kept her in her room until nearly the end of breakfast when she had finally decided to go down and get it over with – or rather her stomach had. She was hoping that waiting that long would mean that most of the kids would already have ate and left the room, walking into the kitchen however she soon saw how wrong she was. Everyone was there, the only good thing about the situation was that they were too intent on their argument to even acknowledge her presence. Letting out a breath of air she hadn't even been aware she was holding, she quickly took her place at the table in the empty seat between Carmen and Harry.<p>

Conversation continued as it had before she had entered and she entertained the idea that maybe she had gotten lucky and nobody would mention her misdemeanour, at least until Liam caught her eye and she saw the mischievous look on his face. As usual he was sitting next to Frank, almost directly across from her so that they could trade looks without most of the others noticing. "So, Anna," he had waited for a lull in the chat before speaking up slightly louder than necessary, obviously as a ploy to get everyone's attention. " how you liking it at the Dumping Ground so far? You sleeping OK?" He got a few odd looks at his question, and not jut from the other kids, but he resolutely ignored them all, choosing instead to keep his gaze on Anna, smirking in a self-satisfied way as he caught her blush.

"It has it's moments but I'm fine. What about you?" She tried to keep her voice as normal as possible despite the burning embarrassment flooding to her face. From the looks he was giving her she was guessing he was only teasing her but was it necessary for him to do it at breakfast in front of everyone?

"Yeah well, a hot drink before bed always helps me." He was still wearing a cocky grin and it seemed to her like it was there especially for her benefit, but it was probably just her imagination. Most of the others were now freely staring at the two, obviously wondering what was going on, it was only one or two of them like Sapphire and Elecktra who tried to appear uninterested.

"What are the two of you on about?" Lily's voice cut through the air like shot, effectively breaking the staring contest between Liam and Anna.

"Nothing, just a lame joke. Right Liam?" She was quick to jump in, to try and steer everyone's attention away from her and what Liam was insinuating. At least two people in the room weren't fooled however; Liam especially seemed unimpressed by her attempt, throwing her a look of amusement before answering.

"Yeah, just a joke. Don't know about lame though, I thought it was funny." She glared at him angrily, a hot retort on her lips when she felt a hand clamp down on her shoulder. She could see Liam's sheepish expression and knew it was Mike, the knowledge didn't comfort her much though as she knew what was to come.

"I think that's about enough don't you?" She wasn't quite sure if his question was directed at her or not but she kept quiet anyway, afraid to make him angry again. "Anna, I'd like to see you in the office when you're done."

"Oooohhh, Anna's in trouble." Carmen's comment, said in a silly sing-song voice caused the younger kids to giggle until Gina shushed them good naturedly. The last thing she heard as she walked out of the room after Mike was Frank's voice as he tried to goad Liam into downing a cup of orange juice that was infested with toast and eggs, a sick inducing combination. As was becoming ritual, she knocked lightly on the office door before entering, this time barely even waiting for confirmation before walking in, Mike had asked her to come after all. The number of people assembled on the other side of the door didn't surprise her any more, even though they made the small room appear crowded and seemed to tower over her.

"Anna, it's good to see you again," Ms Campbell was the first to speak, her cheery voice and sunny disposition automatically bringing smile to her face. "how are you doing?"

"Well she's obviously not doing that well if she tried to run away," Mrs. Bishop's testy interruption slashed through the previously tepid atmosphere turning it grim and chilly. She gulped a little in nervousness, almost afraid to meet the gaze of her angry social worker. Mrs. Bishop must have sensed her apprehension however, because her voice became softer when she spoke next. "Sorry, I'm not upset at you. I'm just disappointed you didn't come to talk to one of us instead of running." She was looking at her expectantly, but Anna couldn't answer. She wasn't being rude or rebellious, she just didn't know what to say. Nobody had shown any signs of caring for her well-being in a long time.

"Yes well, back to the reason we're all here," Mike cut in, a slight edge to his voice as he tried to bring the conference back on track. "we have to discuss the meeting with your parents today."

"I don't want to go." She was insistent, her voice almost harsh as she expressed her feelings. She didn't know what she had been expecting, if she had been expecting anything at all, but the way the grown-ups looked at each other then; like they felt sorry for her, knocked her off centre a little.

"We know you don't, but we don't have a choice. If we keep you here and don't take you to the meeting we'll technically be breaking the law." He sounded sad, defeated and Anna suddenly realised that the adults had been telling the truth and it truly wasn't their fault. Feeling a little guilty at the way she had reacted at the last meeting her gaze turned to Gina and she sent her a small smile in apology. Thankfully though, the care worker appeared to have already forgiven her the altercation as she was smiling at her encouragingly. Quickly re-evaluating the situation, she took a deep breath, preparing for what she was about to say next.

"Do I have to go alone?" The minute the sentence came out of her mouth, she knew she had said the right thing no matter what it cost her, Gina especially had looked proud of her. All though it meant she was giving in, that she was pretty much agreeing to go and see _them, _their approval nearly made it worth it. Nearly; she was still dreading the actual event.


	9. And Farther Than You Can Find Me

**Apparently September is International Square Dancing Month. **Insert slightly crazed grin here** I could have some fun with this. Note to self: must buy cowboy hat.**

**Anyway, here it is, the long awaited - by me anyway - confrontation between Anna and her parents.**

****Update** Thanks to Cookie for pointing out the name discrepancies, I think I managed to fix them and sorry for the confusion. If anyone else catches any mistakes don't hesitate to tell me. **

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><p><strong>Chapter 8: And farther than you can find me, I'm leaving. Yeah I'm leaving today. <strong>

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><p>The rest of the meeting had passed rather fleetingly in a haze of information, most of which she knew she wouldn't remember. They had prepped her for the upcoming disaster – or so she thought of it – telling her, her rights, giving her details on what she could and couldn't do. From what she gathered though, it seemed like not very much was going her way at the moment. She couldn't get away from going to 'the disaster', but she could leave if things got a bit too intense. She didn't have to go in herself but the only person allowed in was Ms Campbell; her children's guardian. She didn't have to talk, but she had to listen, or as she added to herself at least pretend to.<p>

There wasn't much more to it than that, at least not that she understood there to be, and now she was back in her room desperately trying to calm her jittery nerves. She was waiting for Ms Campbell to call on her when had finished her business and was ready to go. Although waiting was perhaps the wrong term, she felt like she was rooted to the spot, unable to move even if she wanted to. The phrase 'paralysed in fear' briefly passed through her thoughts before she roughly shook it aside, reluctant to acknowledge it. By the time there was a knock on her door her fingers had nearly shredded the magazine she had been attempting to read in agitation. Letting out a shaky breath, she tried to settle her mind before calling out in answer.

"Come in!" Thankfully, her voice had stayed steady as she spoke, saving her the embarrassment of appearing as scared as she was. The door opened to reveal a concerned looking Ms Campbell – whether she was perturbed about her and her non-reaction or how she was going to deal with her however she wasn't sure.

"You ready to go?" She almost felt like answering with the most sarcastic comment she could think of, but decided against it, she was only being kind.

"I guess so." Her Children's Guardian only nodded in response, motioning with a hand that it was time to go. Sighing despondently, she pushed herself up from the bed and made her way to the door, mentally forcing herself to walk properly and not drag her feet. As they came down the stairs and went through the lobby, they had to pass a few of the kids as they came out from the living room. It was unbelievably awkward; having to face Liam, Frank, Johnny and Tee as she was pretty much being escorted on her way to see the parents who had made such a scene the day before. Feeling her face start to burn as she made her past them, it was Tee who first caught her gaze as she gave her a comforting smile. The action surprised her as she hadn't spent much time with the young girl since her first day there, something she now regretted and promised to fix as soon as she could. Grinning back in thanks, she stalled for a moment, intent on saying something, anything, to convey her gratitude when Ms Campbell shouted on her from up ahead. Huffing in annoyance and settling for a muttered thanks, she picked up her pace and quickly set off after the impatient woman.

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><p>The ride there had been almost silent, only the radio serving as background noise saving it from being oppressive. At the beginning, Ms Campbell had attempted to start up a few random conversations by mentioning mundane things like the weather and what kind of things she liked to do. But she had stayed unresponsive, her attention elsewhere as she stared unseeing out of the window. It hadn't been until they stepped into the imposing council building that she had came back to reality. From the outside it had been relatively unremarkable, blending into the surrounding buildings so that she had almost walked by it until Ms Campbell had grabbed onto her arm, bringing her back. The inside was a different matter altogether though, there was no denying were they where, it had the stench of institution all over it. The walls were painted an almost uniform cream, broken up every so often by pictures of happy, smiling children with families and scenes that she was sure was supposed to be calming, but as most of them seemed to include the sea they only achieved to make her feel a little sea sick - or maybe it was just the nerves. As Ms Campbell went to talk to the bored looking receptionist, she took the opportunity to look around at the other people in what she supposed was the waiting area. For the most part they all looked depressed which just made her feel worse. The only happy person in the room was a small girl of around three who was playing by herself in the middle of the seating area, the strange thing was nobody else seemed to notice her or even be paying her any attention.<p>

Unfortunately, or fortunately she wasn't really sure, it turned out that her parents were all ready here and waiting for them in one of the suites.

Needless to say, the thought of going any where near a confined space with her parents made her want to leave the country, but with Ms Campbell's hand on her shoulder, pushing her forward, she had little choice but to continue onwards.

On first impression, the room she was ushered into looked plain and sterile, but another, closer look revealed that someone had added a few touches to try and give the place some personality. It was nothing substantial; a semi-large teddy in a corner, a few pictures on the walls of easily recognizable Disney characters, a couple of scruffy looking cushions strewn on the, surprisingly comfy looking chairs, plants on the low tables. The overall effect was to give the room a more child friendly air, one that was shattered almost instantly by the loud gasp from her mother.

It drew her attention immediately, her head swivelling to the middle of the room where both her parents had sat in silence. She had of course noticed them immediately upon entering the room, but had hoped they would get through the next hour or so with minimal outbursts. She should have known better. It wasn't long before the gasp had turned to quiet sobbing punctuated frequently by almost incoherent muttering. It wasn't hard to make out what she was saying even if some of the words were rendered unrecognisable by her cries. She only wished it was so, rather than have to stand there and listen to her say that she missed her, that she just wanted her back so she wouldn't be so lonely without her to keep her company like she used to. She felt Ms Campbell's grip on her shoulder tighten in support before she pushed her forward towards the seats were her parents where sitting. Choosing to sit on on a cream coloured, rather scruffy looking armchair, for the distance it boasted from her parents rather than any other partiality, she took hold of the armrests with both hands, her fingers clenching into the leather like material in an action she didn't consciously acknowledge.

Curiously, her father had so far stayed silent through her mother's antics, though she felt his eyes on her as her mother enthused over how they had got the point; that they know she was sad and needed more attention, how they fully understood and would do everything they could to give it to her. It was almost a replay of what had been said the last time she had saw them from the window and she felt her throat tighten and her stomach churn now as it had then. Thankfully, Ms Campbell had chosen to stay standing and her presence behind her was comforting in more ways than one, letting her know that she wasn't alone.

"When can she come home?" It was the first full sentence she had managed since they had entered the room, and of course it had to be the one Anna had been dreading the most. Thankfully though, it drew her fathers gaze way from her as he turned his attention to her Children's Guardian as did her mother. Anna did not look around, however it seemed to her that the breath had left her body as she waited for the answer.

"Well...at the moment it's better for everybody if Anna stays at the children's home. At least until the investigation comes to an end." She heard her fathers sharp intake of breath and prepared herself for the worst, only to be surprised when it was her mother that argued back.

"You think it would be better for our daughter to stay with strangers, in a house full of ruffians rather than with her own family?" In any other situation, the disgust in her mothers voice at the word 'ruffians' would have made her laugh. She had always been the one to press upon her how badly children were treated in homes, from other children as much as the carers, had always convinced her she was better off where she was.

"With the complaints we've had, we need to wait for the investigation to come to a conclusion with what would be better for Anna." With the way she stalled and took a while to answer, it was clear to see that each word was carefully chosen.

"Complaints? Who exactly are these complaints coming from?" There was no emotion at all as he spoke for the first time, if anything her father looked bored. An expression you wouldn't expect to see on someone who's child had been taken way from them. "They're certainly not from Anna."

"That's unimportant just now, your social worker should be able to address those issues with you if you would make an appointment with her," she took a breath and Anna thought she sounded nervous. Then again she would be too, she knew exactly what it was like to be on the receiving end of her fathers steely stare. "we're here today so you can talk; air anything that want to say to each other you know, get it all out in the open," she paused again, both her hands coming down to rest on her shoulders, the weight suddenly not at all comfortable in the context of what she was saying. "Anna, why don't you go first."

She froze, her mind blank. What was she expecting her to say? She stared stupidly at a spot on her floor, begging her mind to come up with something, anything.

"Well Anna? What would you like to air?" There was a sneer on his face, one that she was used to seeing. Strangely, it didn't strike as much fear in her as it normally did. She knew she should be more scared, but there was a calm part of her brain telling her that this was her chance to tell them how they made her feel, she probably wouldn't get another.

Keeping her eyes trained to the floor, she took a deep breath and said the one thing she always wished she could. "You hurt me." It was simple and quiet but the effect was similar to the aftermath a bomb, silent and tense.

"Hurt you? Anna, how could you say such a thing? We would never..." She my as well have kept her mouth shut for all the good it did. Her mother had broken down into more tears after her outburst and her father had snorted condescendingly, clearly unimpressed.

"She's clearly confused. God knows what happened to her after she ran away, who could have got near her. And we don't know what it's like in that home you've got her in, the kind of children she's interacting with." As usual her fathers response was to counter with anger, to shift the blame way from himself, she could only hope Ms Bishop wouldn't fall for it.

"I don't understand, why do you hate us. Don't you won't to come home." Her mother was still crying, her pleas coming fast on the heels of her fathers accusations.

"I didn't say that, I..." panicking now, she turned to look at Ms Campbell for guidance, it was what she was there for after all.

"This is getting a bit out of hand, why don't we calm down and -" Her efforts were drowned out almost entirely by her mothers continued questions over why she had worried them and her fathers rant over the state of government run care homes and the government in general. In her opinion, the meeting had gone from bad to worse, escalating from a terse silence into a deafening roar that she was finding hard to handle.

Remembering Mrs Bishop's promise that she was allowed to leave if it all got to much for her, she quickly decided that this was indeed such a situation and almost threw herself towards the door, only glancing back to see if anyone was following, they weren't. Ms Campbell was too busy trying to calm down both her parents whilst her father was going between his rants to shushing his wife and back again. Her mother looked distraught and for once she wasn't sure whether or not it was all an act. Racing down the corridor, everything around her seemed like a blur. She thought once that she might have heard someone calling out to her but she ignored them, running on until she felt cool air on her face and only then did she stop, her legs collapsing under her as she fell against the rough brick of the building.

She stayed like that, focusing on her breathing so that she had something to be attentive to, stopping her mind from wandering back to the meeting. Her eyes were unseeing and so she did not notice the odd looks she was getting from those that passed her. In fact she noticed little until she felt a presence settle onto the cold ground next to her and an arm snake round her shoulders in a sort of half-hug. If it had been anyone other Ms Campbell she doubted she would even have the energy to do anything other than what she did, which was nothing other than stare at the same cracked slab of pavement in front of her.

"Let's get you home."

Home? She almost started at the term before she realised what she meant, but then she fell back into her stupor uncaring of anything other than getting back so she could lock herself in her room to try and sort through her whirling mind.

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><p><strong>Like it? Hate it? Love it? Indifferent? Come on people I need feedback here :p. I know that this is being read, the stats page tells me so.<strong>

**Next chapter brings a surprising plot twist and some more Anna/Liam fluff just 'cause. Can you guess what the twist will be? Cake goes to the winner. **


	10. I'll Never Let You Find Me

**And September 14th is...Cream-filled Doughnut Day. Hmmmmmm Doughnuts, I want a chocolate one. Would anyone want a doughnut instead of cake? Anyway, I managed to crank this one out under the influence of insomnia. I miss sleep :(. Enjoy!**

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><p><em><span>Chapter 9<span>: I'll Never Let You Find Me._

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><p>After the get-together from hell with her parents it had thankfully been agreed that there was no need for her to endure a repeat performance. Mrs Bishop had explained to her that social services had decided it was best for her to stay were she was at Elm Tree with minimal access to her parents while they completed their investigation. It was an idea that Anna readily agreed with as in the two weeks since the meeting she had started to find her place in the DG.<p>

Shortly after she had came back from the meeting in a daze, Gina and Mike had surprised her with agreeing to set her up with piano lessons along side Gus. It had come as a huge surprise to her as she hadn't realised they knew she played, but Tracy and Liam (Crash) had let slip afterwards that they had overheard her discussing music with Gus and relayed her interest to the head care-workers. So far they were going well, her technique had slipped a little from lack of practice but she was fast catching up to her past abilities.

When not practising, she had kept her promise of getting to know Tee better. Despite the couple of years that separated them, Anna found that they had a lot of the same interests in common and enjoyed spending time with her. The only down side of their friendship was that her brother Johnny often insinuated himself into their games, his over-protectiveness a frequent buzz kill for Anna as his behaviour often reminded her of her father despite the fact she knew Johnny only did it because he cared. However the advantages in this case far outweighed Johnny's odd actions. Through Tee she was able to get closer to a few of the other girls at Elm Tree, like Carmen and Lily.

It was finally nice for her to be around girls her own age without constantly having to lie about herself and her family. Without having to make excuses every time they wanted her to go somewhere or come to her house or just asked what she had got up to over the weekend. Granted, they all stayed at the same place and weren't allowed to go to many places unsupervised but it was the freedom she now felt at having the burden lifted that really made the difference. It was times like this when she was nearly doubled over with laughter, the tears literally streaming down her face and surrounded by others in similar states that she felt lucky to land in a care home with nice kids in her own age group.

They had been discussing the upcoming start of the new school year and Lily had been doing impressions of some of the teachers that worked at Anna's new school. Thankfully, she had found out that the school she would be attending was also the one that Lily, Johnny, Liam, Sapphire, Frank and Elektra went to and although only Johnny was in her year, it would make it easier for her knowing that the others were also there. She was still nervous though, she knew what new schools were like having had her fair share of them in the past, but this time was different; she would be going as a care kid and everyone would know. The others had picked up on her anxiety and had dragged her out into the garden after breakfast to cheer her up. She was disappointed that Tee and Carmen weren't in the same school yet but Lily had promised to hang out with her and Tee had vowed to make Johnny be nice and at least talk to her.

Both commitments had made her smile, cheering her up immediately and she had asked what the school was like, prompting Lily into her comical imitations. It wasn't long before their laughter gained an interest from the others in the garden and they were soon joined by Frank and Liam, who after a moment of simply joining in on the laughter once they'd figured out what was going on, quickly began to share their own stories and impersonations of their teachers. Letting their merriment wash over her, she realised that this was her chance for a new start. She didn't know what was going to happen; whether or not she would be staying at the DG or if she would have to go back to her parents, but she could use the time she had to become someone new. No-one knew her at the school after all, well other than those at Elm Tree, and she could be anyone she wanted to be. She could become a new person; one who was happier, freer. One who could act like everyone else her age and hope that art would imitate life, that it would soon become true and she would eventually become so different from who she was that they would never be able to find her.

She was pulled from her musings from by Tee tugging excitedly on her arm. "Come on, Anna! You're on my team."

"Team?" Although amused by her enthusiasm, she had no idea what the younger girl was talking about.

"Weren't you listening? Sometimes I think you live in a different world," she scowled playfully at Carmen as she came towards them, interrupting their conversation. "we're going to play a game of football. You in?"

Looking towards the bigger part of the garden that ran alongside where they had been sitting under the shade of some large trees (not elms; she had checked), Anna could see that Frank, Johnny, Lily, Liam and Toby were already kicking around a football with relative ease, waiting for them to catch up. "What's the teams?"

"Boys against girls." Tee chimed in, skipping a little to catch up to the two of them.

"Again?" She groaned dramatically, throwing her hands in the air. "Why does it always have to be boys against girls?"

"Because they didn't get it the first two times." Tee replied cheekily as she ran off to catch the ball that had been sent wide by a bad block from Liam.

"Get what?" The young boy asked agitatedly, frowning at the laughing forms of Lily, Toby and Frank as they made fun of him for messing up the pass.

"That you're clearly never going to win against us," she continued, smiling cockily at the less than happy teenager as she sent the ball towards him with a practised turn of her foot.

"Yeah, we're just too good." Lily added, laughing when she jumped in front of him to intercept the ball before delivering it to Anna who clumsily stopped it, placing her foot on top of it to hold it still. For a moment she simply stood as she was, a smile on her face as she took in Liam's incredulity. The boy quickly bounced back though, his trademark grin coming back in force,

"If you're so sure why don't we make it interesting?"

The four girls shared a look of questioning before Lily took charge. "How do you plan on doing that?"

"Losers have to give up their weeks allowance and," he stopped for a moment, clearly pausing for effect earning him an eye roll from all four of the girls and a huff of exasperation from Carmen. "do the chores of the winners."

"Guess you four are going to be busy next week then. Right Anna?" Lily was staring down Liam as she spoke, barely even looking Anna's way as she questioned her.

Glancing to the other girls, Anna could see nothing but determination in their faces. Smiling at their enthusiasm, she quickly agreed. "Right." From then on all it took was a slightly wide pass to Tee for it all kick off.

It was a scramble at first. Confusion reigning while each team tried to simultaneously get into position and get possession of the ball. The only problem was no one had discussed positioning prior to the game and so no one knew where to go. A few goals were scored by both sides before goal keepers were chosen and the game settled into something more easily recognisable as football. Fortunately, with Anna in goal and away from the main play, her team were just able to pull out a win much to the disgust and frustration of the boys.

"Looks like we've got a good week ahead of us." Lily gloated as she high-fived first Carmen and then Tee and Anna.

"Yeah, yeah. That's if Mike and Gina let us do all your chores." Liam countered, smiling smugly as he thought he'd found his out.

"So nobody needs to tell them," Anna countered, giggling slightly as she was still in a a high over the game.

"Yeah Liam, you're not gonna back out of a bet are you?" Carmen asked teasingly, looking to Johnny, Toby and Frank as she spoke to gage their reactions. Liam did the same only to see that they looked like they agreed with the girls even though it cost them.

"Whatever, we were going easy on you anyway." It was a lame comeback and everyone knew it, but as it was probably the closest thing to agreement they were going to get they let it go.

The group dispersed soon after; Lily dragging Carmen off to help her pick out an outfit for going to visit her dad and sisters and Toby, Johnny and Tee had gone off to play pool. That left Anna, Liam and Frank still in the garden, half-heartedly passing the ball around as Anna tried to get them to teach her how to do keepy-ups.

"Loved to, really. But we have things to do so maybe another time. Right Frank?"

"Yeah, we're busy for the rest of the day." Frank replied smoothly as he passed the ball back to her.

"Doing what, I'm surprised you're both even allowed out in the garden after the way Mike was bawling you out." It had been an impressive sight watching Mike shout at them for trying to scam the shopkeepers from round the corner. They had seemed cowed by it however, so Anna was immediately suspicious when they appeared to be planning something else.

"Nothing much, just hanging out. Maybe next time yeah?" They left then, saying their goodbyes as they went, Liam's accompanied by a wink that caused an eruption of butterflies in her stomach despite her irritation at their – at his – brush-off.

After trying to do the keepy-ups by herself and failing miserably, she finally gave up and made her way inside, intent on getting in some piano practice before her lesson the next day. She was soon lost in the music, her fingers flying over the keys as she ran through the pieces their teacher had set her. She was so absorbed in her task that she didn't notice Toby trying to get her attention until he roughly shook her shoulder.

Jumping a little, she almost snarled at the poor boy for breaking her concentration. "What?"

"I, I found this in the hall. I thought maybe you'd dropped it." He almost thrust the crushed piece of paper into her hand, all but running away before she could even figure out what it was. She felt bad for causing him to sprint from the room, but curiosity over what she had been given soon won out.

Straightening out the crumpled paper, she found that it was a note addressed to her. It was simple and to the point, just a few words asking her to be at the den at two. Her first instinct was to disregard it and throw it away, after all it had to be someone in the DG - who else could have dropped it in the hall – so why couldn't they just come and talk to her, it wasn't like she was hard to find. Frowning now, she shoved it into her pocket and tried to go back to her playing. She was halfway through a rendition of a piano solo of Debussy's Clair de lune when the thought first hit her. What if it was from Liam?

It was stupid really and probably totally wrong but she couldn't help but think it. Carmen, Lily and Tee had already teased her about her crush, saying that they were sure he had been flirting with her on various occasions and she had thought it all joke. But then again, who else could it be?

Excited now in spite of all intentions to be otherwise, she gave up any pretence she had left of continuing her practice and quickly bounded up the stairs towards her room – she had to change. After a flurry of activity that left the room looking like the aftermath of a small but vicious tornado, she had finally found something in her meagre collection of clothes that she was happy with. Stepping in front of her mirror, she groaned in distress over the state of her hair. Granted it wasn't as bad as it had been in the hospital but it was still short. It had grown enough to become style-able so that she could almost make it look fashionable. Almost. But as there was nothing she could do about it now, she was officially ready.

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><p>There was no one there when when she got the den but she was early. Looking at her watch she could see that it was only ten to two; plenty of time left. Sighing in slight disappointment, she sat down on one of the seats wondering, though not for the first time, where they had come from. She couldn't stop her leg from bouncing up and down - the only outlet her impatience had as Carmen would murder her if she chewed on her recently painted nails – and so concentrated on thinking of what she would say once he came to try and calm down so her uneasiness wouldn't be so obvious. She knew it might not be Liam, but since she had first thought of it the idea had been hard to get rid of.<p>

Suddenly, she heard a twig snap behind her and she jumped up excitedly, forgetting her intent to try and stay calm and cool. Before she could turn around however, or even finish standing up, a hand had shot out to cover her mouth, a cloth clasped in it's grasp.

She struggled madly. Throwing her arms and legs around in a panic, hoping to hit whomever it was that had slunk another, gloved arm around her middle trying to hold her still. She couldn't break free no matter how she tried and her strength was beginning to falter. There was a smell coming from the cloth; a sickeningly sweet but heavy stench that she could almost feel making it's way into her mouth and nose, down into her throat.

It hadn't even occurred to her to connect the smell with why she was suddenly so dizzy or why she felt like she could no longer support her own body. She never thought that what was happening now related to the note that Toby had given her. In fact, one of her last thoughts as she passed out was her hope that Liam wouldn't think she had stood him up.

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><p><strong>So the whole idea for this came from my friend who walked up behind me the other day, placed a hand over my face and asked 'Does this smell like chloroform to you?' Sometimes I seriously wonder about her lol. <strong>

**Feedback is awesome, so give me some ;p.**


	11. I'm leaving you behind with the past

**Sorry this ran late but, real life got in the way as per. At least it hasn't quite reached the two week mark yet. XD **

**Anyway, this chapter has more background on where Anna comes from and remember, reviews are awesome as I love to hear what the readers think. **

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><p><strong>Chapter 10: I'm Leaving You Behind With The Past<strong>

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><p>There was a steady beat coming from somewhere near her; a rhythmical thump-thump so loud it almost seemed to come from everywhere at once. It surrounded her entirely, demanding all her attention as it washed over her, rattling her bones so that it seemed to her sleep-addled mind like like she was in the inside of a drum.<p>

As consciousness earnestly gripped her and dragged her slowly into reality she felt her confusion mounting. She no longer believed she was trapped in the middle of a drum, the thought driven from her mind as her various aches and pains began to make themselves known. Her entire body felt like one big bruise; her shoulder muscles and her thighs especially throbbed in protest if she dared to move. Her chief worry however was her head. It was pounding harshly; a fierce throbbing pain behind her eyes that made even the thought of opening them a painful experience.

Slowly, and with much trepidation, Anna rolled herself over so that she was face down, her forehead pressed against something soft and fluffy. Unfortunately, the motion made her dizzy, and she groaned somewhat pathetically as her blood pumped faster round her body making her head swim. In that moment two things became known to her; first, that the thumping she had heard was her own blood - something which had become evident as heart rate had increased at the same time the beat had – and second, she was on a bed, she had heard the springs react as she had moved and felt the cloth of the covers under her hands.

As her wooziness subsided she forced her eyes open, wincing when the light caused her head to ache more painfully and closed them quickly, scrunching them tight so that it wouldn't happen again. She had no idea where she was other than on a bed. It didn't sound like Elm Tree as there was nothing to be heard other than her own laboured breathing and the continued pounding in her ears, and it didn't sound, or smell, like a hospital either.

Frowning now for a reason other than the pain she tried to think of the last thing she could remember. Images of playing football in the garden, of chatting with the girls, of playing piano and Toby...he had given her something but she couldn't remember what it was, or indeed anything after that. Maybe she was just in her bed and the others were all outside, but how would that explain the agony her body was suffering?

Cautiously, she tried to open her eyes once more, glad that the pain was no longer as intense as it had been, its only effect now was to make her eyes water. The moment she took in her surroundings however she almost wished that the pain had returned and she had been unable to open her eyes if only to retain her previous obliviousness.

Shockingly, everything was as she had left it. Her various awards and certificates showcasing her talents at the piano still adorned the wall beside the posters displaying her taste in bands and movies and her collection of porcelain dolls were still looking down at her from their places on the shelves above her bed. Even the piles of the then recently cleaned and ironed clothes her mother had handed her on the day she had left were still balanced precariously atop her chest of drawers, looking now as they did then like they were about to topple at any minute.

Defeated and broken, she felt despair overcome her as she dropped her head back down unto the bed, burying her face into the musty smelling bedding as her tears spilled over and slid down her cheeks. She had tried so hard; fought her way out, left it all behind as a past she no longer had to think of and even found somewhere to stay but it had been all for nothing as she had ended up back in the very place she had been running from.

She was so despondent that she lay like she was for longer than she should have. Instead of looking for a way out, – she had done it before so what was to stop her from doing it again? - instead of trying to get some feeling other than pain into her limbs or at least attempting to find a way to contact someone, anyone, that could come and save her like Mike and Gina or Sgt. Nelson, all she did was lie there, curled into a ball, sobbing pathetically. If she had the energy or the inclination she might have been more disgusted with herself but as it stood, she no longer cared for anything other than her current distress.

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><p>She had no idea how long she had been lying there, but as she finally pulled herself together enough to push herself up against the pillows, wearily wiping at her red-rimmed eyes with a curled fist, she could see that the light streaming in from the half closed blind at her window was tinged a deep orange from the setting of the sun. She felt a surge of hope at the sight. There was no clock in her room – no way for her to accurately tell the time other than the coming twilight, but she knew that because it was summer the days were longer, and although they hadn't yet reached the point were it would stay light until the back of nine, the last few days had seen the bright sunshine lasting until seven or eight at night. This meant that she had been missing for at least four hours; surely someone would have noticed her absence by now?<p>

Taking heart from the idea that people were already looking for her, she felt her resolve strengthening. Straightening up a little, she gingerly moved herself to the edge of the bed, gasping in pain as her feet touched the floor and she tried putting some of her weight onto them. It was bearable however - a dull aching that paled in significance to her still pounding head - and she found that if she used something to lean on, like her headboard for example, she was able to move around her room, her old room, with some degree of ease.

After an initial check of herself in the mirror that was attached to the door of her cupboard, she found that she suffered nothing more serious than a few bruises for the most part. Although she had been right in her first assumption of her head being the most painful and possibly the most dangerous injury. There were no marks to be seen, so anything that was wrong was obviously internal, and she had watched enough hospital orientated TV shows to know that this wasn't good. She shrugged it off however as something she had no control over and concentrated on stretching out her limbs as she hobbled around; exercising the stiffness out of them after she had been lying for so long.

It was tiring work however, and by the time she made it to the window she was exhausted. Looking out she didn't know what she was expecting. Whether it was to see a police car or the mini-van the home used to escort them about, or just some sign of civilisation that wasn't related to the house she was in. Whatever it was she didn't see anything out of the ordinary; fields that stretched out of sight bordered by a few fences and low crumbling walls, a large tree not far from where she was, a forest to left. It was a sight she had seen almost everyday for the two years in which they had lived there.

Her family had apparently lived in this farmhouse for the past four generations. Her father had told her that they had once owned most if not all of the land she could see from her window, but years of bad seasons and worse demand for their products had meant they had been forced to sell off the land piece by piece until all that was left was what they now owned today; the few acres that immediately surrounded the house and the barn.

It had gotten so bad during her grandfathers time as landowner, before even her father was born, that it had been decided to no longer continue with the family business. Her father and his brothers had therefore been brought up to follow specific paths, ones that led to occupations her grandfather had already chosen for them. The practice of leaving the house and its subsequent grounds to the eldest still held however, and her father had honoured it after her uncle Stephen had died leaving it vacant, even though it meant a commute of over two hours a day to get to and from his office in London, where he worked as a marketing manager – a job Anna had never understood beyond the fact that it was highly paid and often lead to him travelling a great deal, something which she was always thankful for.

Staring at the small dirt path that ran around the edge of the house, skirted the old oak tree that still held the fraying edges of rope that had once been a swing and led off into the forest, she once more felt a sense of hopelessness try to overwhelm her. It was the path she had followed all those weeks ago when she had escaped, knowing that it would eventually lead her to village where she was able to board a bus to the nearest town. It had taken all her resolve to do it, never mind most of the money she had earned the previous summer doing errands and helping out at the farm that bordered there's, and even if she could get out she wasn't sure she could do it again. Not that she'd have to, someone was sure to come for her eventually.

She heard the steady rhythm of footsteps against the bare floorboards of the stairs outside the room and she shivered despite the warmth of the room. Tearing her eyes from the scene before her she turned to face the door, her apprehension growing until it was all that she saw, all that she knew. Her scrutiny was such that she failed to notice when she fell slightly to the side until she was resting against the window sill, her hands unconsciously gripping its edge hard enough to make her knuckles turn white. She knew those steps.

They were the ones she dreaded hearing in the dark of night. The ones that usually heralded another trip to the hospital – if she was lucky, if not she was left to manage as best she could, which nine times out of ten wasn't all that good.

They stopped for a moment outside of her door and then she could hear nothing except her own harsh, erratic breathing, but she could almost feel his presence on the other side of the door. The minutes stretched on as nothing happened, grating on her already frazzled nerves. She felt like she was standing on the edge of a cliff and about to fall over, but she was just gripping on by dear life.

It got to the point were she almost wished something would happen just so she wouldn't have to stay as she was; suspended in animation and unable to act, but as the handle turned and the door began to open slowly, she felt that feeling melt away to be replaced with terror.

She couldn't move as the opening door revealed her father's face as he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. His movements were slow, calculated and Anna could feel her fear mounting as he turned back to stare at her, a grim smile on his face.

"Well aren't you going to say hello?"


	12. No, I Won't Look Back

**Sorry 'bout the wait but my internetz has been off since last Sunday so at least I have something of an excuse. XD**

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><p><strong>Chapter 11: No, I Won't Look Back<strong>

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><strong><strong>

The violent slamming of the office door caused Mike to wince in pain as the walls shuddered in response, knocking books and files to the floor with thuds that sent piercing twinges through his head. Sighing tiredly he leaned forward in his chair until his elbows were digging into his knees and allowed his head to drop onto his hands. He couldn't believe how weary he felt, he could almost hear his bones groan in complaint when he moved and would give anything to be able to do just as Tracy had and slam the door in anger before storming off. To be able to go home to be comforted, to forget.

Unfortunately there wasn't a chance of that happening and wishful thinking wasn't going to get his work wrapped up any faster. He just couldn't bring himself to face the mound of paperwork that waited him however and his load, would likely only increase as the night went on and the younger kids began to suffer the unavoidable nightmares emotional situations like these tended to cause.

He was almost regretting sending Gina home as he mentally ran over all the things he had to do tonight, but she had been so torn up about Anna's disappearance that she wasn't up to her usual par. She had been distracted during the interviews with the police and once the kids had begun to notice he had, had no choice but to politely ask her to leave despite her protests that she was fine. Even though he needed all the help he could get, he couldn't deal with keeping an eye on her all night with everything else he had to worry about.

It was getting nearer the forty-eight hours mark since Anna had last been seen and everyone was getting nervous. At first they had all presumed that she had ran away, even though that in itself had been seen as a surprise as the girl had settled down considerably since her first few days, but then on checking her room Gina had found the small bag she had kept around her at all times. It was the first clue they had that something was truly wrong.

In the short time she had been there they had all observed that the girl did not like to be parted with her bag. She would freak out whenever she appeared to lose it or was asked to be more than a few feet away from where it rested, and both these instances where nothing compared to what happened when Elektra had decided to look inside it.

No-one had been surprised by her actions; anything that guarded was sure to raise unwanted attention in a crowded house like theirs, but Anna's response to finding the girl mid-snoop had stunned them all. She had been so enraged when she caught the older girl rummaging through her bag that she had thrown herself at the girl like a wildcat, knocking them both to the floor as she attacked her. Her arms and legs flailing wildly as she screamed in rage and attacked the older girl.

Elektra's cries of pain alongside Anna's almost incoherent screeches soon brought both himself and Tracy to the room where they could only stand and look on in amazement at what they saw. Since she had arrived, Anna had been on the quiet side and even after she had began talking she wouldn't go out of her way to start a conversation with anyone. To see the previously timid girl act in such a way now completely astonished both of the care workers so that it took another agonised cry from Elektra to get them moving once more.

He was still amazed that the younger girl had, had the strength to inflict the damage she had, but in all his years in taking care of young, troubled kids he had quickly come to realise that even the smallest could become dangerous when they were fighting for something they held dear. After that incident the two had went out their way to avoid each other physically at least – even if they often squabbled verbally.

The ticking of the clock made him groan loudly as it filtered into his unconsciousness, reminding him that time was getting away from him. Shaking his head to clear away the memories he straightened up in his seat and shuffled it closer to the desk. He had to complete the paper work he had left before the police came back to interview the care-workers. They had finished questioning the kids a few short hours ago; a gruelling and very frustrating exercise that had led to many fall outs and groundings – not that any of them were currently allowed out of the house. They were even wary of letting them out into the garden alone – and now they insisted on speaking to everyone that worked at Elm Tree despite both his and Gina's insistence that it was clear it was her parents that had took her.

It wasn't that they refused to listen, as far as he could determine they had taken the tip to heart, but they had to go through certain procedures like interviewing everyone and gathering evidence to back up the claim before they could jump right in and start accusing people, especially people like Anna's father who had connections in London that could make their life difficult. He knew all this but he still felt frustrated since knowing who took her didn't serve much purpose in the long run. They would just have to wait out the investigation and hope that she would be all right.

Sighing tiredly he rubbed his knuckles into his eyes, valiantly trying to fight through his exhaustion and focus on the seemingly multiplying papers in of him. No matter how hard he focused however he couldn't stop the letters from blurring and melding together, making it almost impossible for him to understand what he was supposed to be reading. He was toying with the idea of just leaving it all for Tracy and Liam to work through tomorrow, making a convincing argument in his head of how they needed it for their training, when a commotion coming from upstairs broke his concentration.

Jumping out of his seat a little more enthusiastically than he normally would, he paused before the office door to make sure his face held no trace of his relief before rushing up to the second landing where he saw Liam and Lily arguing with Toby. The younger boy looked terrified as he stood pressed against the wall across from Liam's room, his face blanched white with fright as his eyes darted nervously between the two older children. They where standing on either side of him, almost boxing him in as they continued to shout at him, their voices mingling in their anger so that Mike could only make out snippets of what they were saying.

As he hurried along the hallway however, he caught a few words that made him double his pace: Anna...note...your fault...disappear. They were shouting so loud however that he was almost upon them before either of them noticed he was there. Toby on the other hand saw him as soon as he turned the corner and he could see him visibly relax as he caught his eyes.

"What's going on here?" He demanded, coming to a stop in front of Toby so that his body acted as a shield, blocking each party from a good view of the other.

For a second he feared that no-one would answer him as Lily shot a questioning look at Liam turning her gaze to the floor, avoiding his eyes. Liam on the other stared back at him solidly, refusing to back down.

"You should ask him," he defended angrily as he pointed a shaking finger behind him at Toby, "he's the one that lied to the police, to us."

Mike could see the betrayal and hurt in his face and felt confusion well up inside him at his words. He tried to stop his feelings from showing however as he forced on a mask of irritation, hoping that Liam was only ever reacting, that Toby hadn't done anything wrong. He couldn't even begin to wonder what would happen if Anna was never found, not to mention the added pressure of one of the kids from Elm Tree being seen as even partially responsible so soon after Lily's fall. They would be shut down.

Clenching his hands to stop them from shaking he fought to keep his voice steady and calm; it wouldn't help the situation if he let the kids know even an inkling of what he thought.

"I'm asking you," he continued his voice thankfully steady, "so tell what's going on."

Liam continued to stare him out, obviously not willing to answer, so Mike took a step to the side, putting himself in a position where he could see all three of them and refocused his attention on Lily; if he couldn't get Liam to talk maybe she would, she couldn't meet his gaze after all.

"Lily," he called, waiting for her to automatically look up before speaking again, "why are you both shouting at Toby? Isn't it a little unfair?"

He had quickly decided to focus on the fact that they were acting cruelly in ganging up on their friend, hoping that her instinctive protectiveness would lead her to break away from whatever fragile pact she had made with Liam and answer him honestly. She looked hesitant at first but after a moment she looked at Toby and her resolve seemed to crumple before his eyes.

"He...he knows something about Anna," she stated softly, her voice growing stronger as she spoke so that Mike no longer had to strain to hear her, "he gave her a note before she disappeared and never told anybody about it."

"Then how do you know about it?" He asked, keeping his eyes on her and ignoring Liam's look of disgust that his friend, that another care kid would rat him out.

She paused before answering, dragging in a ragged breath as she clearly deliberated on how to respond. Chancing a look at Liam, she frowned at the apparent angry set of his face but carried on regardless.

"He told us," she stated simply, shrugging a shoulder at his look of disapproval.

"And you never once thought of coming to me? Either of you?" He challenged in disbelief, his voice rising in volume as he no longer sought to control it now that he was getting something of a response. Even Liam was looking a little less cocky, no longer looking into his eyes with the same fervour that he had before.

He let himself sigh dramatically before stepping closer to the wall and Toby, placing a hand on the young boy's still shaking shoulder, holding him back. "Go back to your rooms," he insisted, looking each in the eye in the hope that it conveyed his seriousness, "it's late and it's been a long day."

Lily began to move away even before he finished speaking, clearly relieved to be away from his glare and accusations, but Liam stayed where he was, scowling at Toby until Mike cleared his throat and the noise seemed to bring him out of whatever reverie he had been in. They locked eyes once more and Mike almost thought he would continue to argue with him until he turned away with an unimpressed snort and slammed his door behind him, sending a fresh wave of pain through his head.

"We need to talk," he stated softly once he was sure both of the other kids were out of earshot, pressing his hand more securely into Toby's shoulder as he pushed the boy in the direction of the stairs and the office.

Toby was quiet during the walk and Mike, who would normally pepper such silence with small talk to ease the child, felt no need to change the situation as his mind raced with the possibilities of what both Lily and Liam had hinted at. He lightly pushed Toby into the chair on the other side of the desk from where he normally sat and quickly shuffled the papers he had left earlier into a folder that he then dumped into a desk drawer with only a minimal amount of guilt. Sitting across from the boy he stared at him for a moment before getting straight to the point.

"Lily said something about a note," he prompted, smiling at him to let him know he wasn't angry or disappointed.

"I, I didn't think that anything would happen to her," Toby defended nervously, "I thought it was hers. It had her name on it and -"

"Whoa slow down. So there was a note?" Mike asked, leaning forward in his eagerness to find out what Toby knew.

"Yeah I found it in the hall, it had her name on it," Toby repeated.

"And then what did you do?" Mike questioned after Toby didn't go on.

"I gave it to her. She was practising at the piano and I gave her note and then I left. I never saw her after that."

"Did you see what was it? Did it say anything about where she might be?" Mike demanded harshly. He was a bit disappointed that his lead was going nowhere and they were as far away as ever from learning what had happened and it was leaving him grasping at straws.

"'Course not," he replied, looking truly startled by the suggestion as he met his eyes for the first since he encountered him in the hall. "I hate it when people go through my stuff so why would I read her note?"

Mike nodded vacantly in response, surprised that he hadn't guessed his answer himself; no self-respecting care kid would snitch on another, unfortunately (from his viewpoint as a care worker at least) it wasn't the way to survive the world in which they were raised without being beat up or shut out. The same rules, for the most part, applied to snooping.

"Were they right, is it my fault Anna's not been found yet?"

The melancholy tone to Toby's voice snapped Mike from his thoughts and he looked to the young boy to see him staring at him in worry.

"No, it's not your fault," he answered absently, "we don't even know if the note had anything to do with her disappearance."

Forcing a smile onto his face he turned to Toby and sent him off to bed. The boy looked strangely put out by his abrasiveness but he couldn't worry about that now, he would be fine after a nights rest. His main worry, the thing that was almost taking over his mind, was what to do with the information he now had. It was unlikely that he was wrong and the note had everything to do with Anna's disappearance but he had to make sure. Shutting the door firmly behind Toby he fell back into his seat with a flop, unconsciously mimicking his earlier position.

If he told the police they would want to interview the kids themselves and Mike knew from experience that there was no way that would go down well. He would have to do it himself, get the kids up early before the detectives came back so that he could talk to them alone. Hopefully with enough encouragement and a little guilt, one of them would speak up for leaving the note and he could leave the matter to rest.

He didn't even want to consider the alternative. After all, whoever wrote the note had dropped it in the hallway meaning that they had access to Elm Tree and that wasn't something he wanted to deal with. He was probably just over reacting however, the note would turn out to be from one of the kids, a joke or prank they had been playing on one another and the police would be able to turn their attentions to where it was needed; the parents.

Picking up a pen he once more pulled the paperwork towards him and prepared for a long and tedious night, broken only by nightmares or maybe one or two more arguments. It wasn't exactly something to look forward to but it was work that had to be done and he was the only one left to do it. Letting out another troubled sigh he focused on the work, forcing himself to stare at the words in front of him until they started to make sense.


	13. And I don't wanna hear your reasons

**Chapter 12:**** And I don't wanna hear your reasons.**

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><p>She felt fear clogging her throat, an almost tangible force that kept her from replying even though she knew it would only make him angry, and she was right. She could see his lips tightening and a hard look come over his eyes; signs that she so often dreaded to see. Desperately, she tried to back up, to put a little space between them only to remember that she was already pressed against the window with nowhere to go.<p>

"You answer me when I speak to you," he commanded, "or has your little holiday made you forget everything I taught you?"

She shook her head in answer, but whether it was to deny his accusation or to rebel against his order she wasn't sure.

"Well," he continued harshly, "aren't you going to answer me?"

"No," she whispered before clearing her throat and trying again, sacred that he hadn't heard her the first time. "No."

"No what?"

"I haven't forgotten, I, I was just surprised to see you here," she stammered before realising her mistake and rushing to fix it. "I mean your normally at work during the day so I wasn't expecting you to..."

She trailed off when he began to laugh; a slow chuckle that both shocked and confused her as she didn't know what about their current situation could amuse him.

"I took a few days holiday I was owed," he smirked, "after all, we had to celebrate your homecoming."

Although he was smiling she felt a coldness creep over her and had to fight back a shiver. He still looked like he was barely concealing his rage if the twitch above his right eye was anything to go by but he had so far made no move to hurt or demean her, it was a little surreal.

"Where's mum?" She asked quietly to break the silence. It seemed the wrong question to raise however as her fathers eyes flashed brightly as he took a step towards her, his voice raised.

"Your mother? What, now you ask after her after leaving her here to worry about you? Do you know what that did to her? What you did to her?" He was shouting now and she flinched at every question he threw at her, scared of the possible answers.

He took another step closer to her so that he was now within reaching distance, his face almost purple with fury. "Have you any idea what you have done to this family?"

The indignation hit her with a rush even as despair threatened to break her. _What did he mean what she had done to the family? They were the ones that hurt her, the ones that had beaten her time and time again, how could they blame her for running away?_

She voiced none of her thoughts though, ultimately scared that her new found strength would only lead him to try and break it. Instead, she lowered her head and muttered an apology, hoping that it would be enough to calm him yet knowing it wouldn't.

"Sorry!" He screamed, "Your sorry? You should be sorry you little bitch."

She barely had time to look up at his outburst before he was upon her, his hand lashing out in an open handed slap that sent her reeling. The back of head bounced sorely against the glass of the window and the left side of her face burned from where he had caught it. Instinctively, her hand came up to cup her throbbing cheek which, for some strange reason, appeared to anger him even more.

He grabbed her raised hand, his nails digging painfully into her wrist as he brought his other hand up to twist tightly in her hair, holding her head still so that she had no choice but to look at him.

"You will regret running away, but first, you're going to apologise to your mother for making her worry. She'll be home in a few hours, I suggest you clean yourself up a bit; your bleeding."Spitting out the last word he thrust her from him so that she connected with the cold glass of the window once more and stalked from the room, taking pains to lock the door behind him.

The moment he was gone Anna let herself crumple to the floor, her bare toes digging into the soft carpet as she brought her hands to her face to assess the damage. She was indeed bleeding from a slight cut on her lip that stung from the flow of silent tears she hadn't known she'd been crying. Letting out a choked sob she crawled back to her bed and pulled herself up onto the mattress before wrapping her arms around one of the large teddies that lay there, seeking the comfort they used to give her.

She found none of the safety she used to get however, in fact she began to feel more nervous than before as she stared into the eyes of the dolls that lined the wall above her bed. From where she lay, her head resting against the pillows, she was in prime position to see them looking down at her. They were always looking down at her, ever since her mother had brought the first two home.

It was a day she would never forget, not because of the beating she'd received – it wasn't so severe that it stood out from the others her father had given her over the years, she hadn't even needed a trip to the hospital, but her mother had taken one of her turns and come to see if she was alright afterwards. That in itself was enough to mark the occasion as special, her mother rarely came near her on the nights her father was 'teaching her a lesson,' preferring to 'stay out of it' as she put it. Anna always thought that she stayed out of the way so that she could pretend it didn't happen.

Occasionally however, she would break what had become tradition and come into her room at night after her father had fallen asleep and help fix her up. She would hum to her soothingly and stroke her hair as she lay in her bed and promise her that everything would be alright. There were times when she almost believed her, and even times when she was younger when she had fully believed it, but it always ended the same way; she would wake up in the morning after falling asleep to her mothers soothing voice to realise that nothing had changed, and that the next time her father was angry she would bear the brunt of it as always, her mother nowhere to be seen.

In one instance though, maybe a year ago, her mother had come, as she sometimes did, but that time she had brought a gift. She had carefully unwrapped the ribbon for her and opened the box, she had been unable to due to what turned out to be a few bruised ribs, to reveal a pair of porcelain dolls.

Anna had hated them upon sight, she had never been one for dolls and these ones especially seemed to stare at her from the box, their eyes following her as she moved, but her mother seemed caught up in the idea. She talked excitedly about the dolls, telling her about her own collection as a child, about how she hoped she would enjoy them as much as she had. When she didn't respond as she wanted however her mother had gotten upset; throwing the dolls petulantly onto the bed and storming out. She came back later though, with some cookies and smiles, to help her place them above her bed where they could 'keep her safe'. It was typical behaviour for her mother who sometimes acted more of a child than she did.

That night she couldn't sleep; she could feel their eyes watching her, condemning her. She knew it was stupid, that they couldn't really hurt her or see her; that they were inanimate, but she couldn't help her fears. Even now after twelve more dolls given to her by concerned-when-it-suited-her-mum, those first two still creeped her out the most (though the rest weren't exactly her favourite things in the world), and she could feel her skin crawl at their cold stare however unreal.

She stared back into their cold blue eyes and shuddered despite herself. Closing her eyes she hugged the teddy closer to her body, trying desperately to block everything out and escape into sleep for an hour or two at least. Luck was certainly not on her side that day though, if everything that had happened up to now weren't her first clues, and her optimism from hanging around with Carmen was quickly fading.

Sighing in exasperation she made herself sit up and started rummaging around in the top drawer of her bed side cabinet, looking for the wet-wipes she had always kept there. As she balanced the small mirror she had also found in the depths of her drawer against the lamp and began to gingerly dab at the dried blood surrounding her mouth, she realised that she kept thinking of everything in this house in the past tense, like it no longer belonged to her.

The sudden understanding hit her like lightning, a shock that caused her hand to slip and brush against her swollen lip. Gasping in pain she dropped the wipe she was holding as her hand automatically lifted to cover the damaged area.

Frowning, she stared at herself in the small shabby mirror. _Could she really have changed so much in a few short weeks that she no longer thought of this place as home? _She thought of Elm Tree; of her friends there and of the comfort and happiness she was starting to find there and knew for certain that she couldn't stay here, she would have to escape.

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><p><strong>AN: So you guys should know the drill by now; reviews=love XD.**


	14. Don't Wanna Hear You Tell Me

****A/N: I suck at updates! lol. Truth is, I can't work right unless I have some kind of enforced deadline. If I don't have one I procasinate way to much. The worse part is that I know this and yet do nothing to try and fix it. Nah well, enjoy the update and review please!****

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><p><strong>Chapter 13: Don't Wanna Hear You Tell Me Why I Should Stay. <strong>

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><p>By the time she heard her fathers footsteps outside the door she was as ready as she'd ever be. She had managed to clean her face up and fix her sleep mussed hair in the mirror, even changing into an outfit she knew was one of her mothers favourites to complete the look - even if she herself hated each and every time she had to wear it. It was one of the outfits she would be forced into whenever they were going to see family or going to a party one of her dad's colleagues were throwing, and it was unbelievably constricting. She felt like she couldn't do anything with it on lest she get it dirty, crease it or, god forbid, undo the ribbons!<p>

It was also one the stupidest dresses she had ever seen. It was all pink with ribbons, something she would associate more with a five year old in an old American film rather than on someone her age, and the shoes were even worse! The only good thing about them was that after wearing them so many times they were no longer sore and have actually become comfy.

As she heard him unlocking the door, she stood up and anxiously smoothed down her dress and tights, needing to do something with her hands. He stayed at the threshold, holding the door open with one hand as he beckoned her to move with the other, and like a puppet attached to an invisible string she felt herself bring jerked forward, unable to resist yet hating herself for doing it.

She could feel his eyes on her as she walked but she refused to meet his gaze, scared of what she would see. He was still standing in the doorway, so she had no choice but to stop in front of him, her gaze kept firmly in front of her so that she was staring at the purple silk of his shirt and tie. They were two different shades, a darker purple tie contrasting with the lighter tones of the shirt, and in those few moments of terse silence she would have sworn that she knew every stitch in front of her.

"At least you remembered how to dress right," he finally sneered, backing away from the door and striding down the hallway.

In the past weeks of being able to wear whatever she wished, which wasn't all that hard a choice sine she didn't have that many clothes, she had almost forgotten how extreme her parents attitude towards the way she dressed was. They didn't like her wearing jeans or leggings, or anything that, in their eyes, made her look boyish or 'trashy' – trashy being anything modern or trendy, anything the other kids wore.

She let her hand trail along the walls as she followed him, her fingertips brushing lightly against the faded wallpaper. Her mothers craft-room was at the far end of the hall from her own bedroom. It wasn't a very large distance, but it was one that seemed to take forever whenever she walked it.

Her father knocked on the door before entering, a courtesy he never extended to any other room in the house no matter the occupant, and she heard the faint call of her mother granting them entrance before the the door was open and she was being ushered in; her fathers hand on her back leaving her no option but to enter.

Her mother was sitting in the armchair near the window, the light from the setting sun shining on her blonde hair making it glisten. She had always thought her mother was pretty, with her flawless complexion and and shiny, blonde hair, everywhere they went it was almost guaranteed that people would stare at her, a fact that her father often used to his advantaged.

It had never escaped her notice that her father would take pleasure in showing her off to his friends, she had once overheard someone saying that he used her mother as a power tool, that he relished in showing her off, knowing that everyone wanted her but could never have her.

She hadn't completely understood what they were saying, but she gotten the general impression that even though they were calling her mother beautiful and ravishing, they somehow weren't using the terms as a compliment.

Her father nudged her forward, his hands pushing on her shoulders so that she stumbled further into the room, his impatience clear. Glancing back, she saw the stern look on his face and knew that she would have to do something. Maybe once she did he would leave them alone.

"Hi mum," she started nervously, "what are you making?"

Her mother had her sewing machine placed on the table in front of her, her concentration almost solely on it despite their entrance.

"I'm making all new curtains for house," she answered, smiling as she finally looked up from her work, "the old ones are starting to look a little faded and I think cream would be a nicer look anyway. Don't you agree?"

She nodded slowly, sighing once she realised it was useless as her mother had turned back to her ministrations. "Yeah, they'll go nice with the wallpaper in the halls," she said vaguely, unsure exactly of how she was supposed to respond.

Her mothers attitude to home furnishings always confused her, they had the money to buy whatever they wanted, a fact that was more than evident by the various expensive gadgets left around the house that no-one ever used like the espresso machine and the gym. Yet, her mother insisted on making a lot of the curtains and cushion covers and such herself, not to mention some of the clothes she was sometimes forced to wear.

"I'm glad you're wearing that dress," her mother continued, "it's one of my favourites. And you always look nice in it."

"It's one of my favourites too," she lied, in what she hoped was a convincing manner as she sat down on the other side of the table, "do you need any help?"

"No, but thank you. You'll only mess it up anyway."

She winced at the insult, mad at herself for not seeing it coming. Out of the corner of her eye she saw her father leave the room and close the door behind him, the soft click of the latch letting her know that she could relax a little.

"How many have you done so far?" She asked awkwardly, trying to break the silence.

"This is only my first one, so I should be done by next weekend if I do a little every chance I get."

Her mother was obviously put out, if she wasn't, she would be chatting away to her about everything and nothing and she would be hard put to get a word in edgeways. Now however, it was like she was purposely trying to let her know that she was mad at her without actually telling her.

The silence stretched out into minutes and she knew she would have to take the first step and bring up the subject or she would have to it here for the next few hours making polite conversation while her mother fashioned up some new curtains. Nervously, her hands unfolded themselves in her lap and her fingers began to play her favourite piano concerto's on her knees; pieces by Shostakovich, Ravel, Tchaikovsky and Chopin – her favourites, the ones that never failed to keep her calm and centred.

"I'm sorry I ran away. I didn't mean to make you angry." Her words got an immediate reaction as her mothers hands stilled on the cloth, the machine coming to abrupt stop.

"I'm not angry, I'm just upset. I don't know you would do something like that. Didn't you know how scared we were? We thought something awful had happened to you."

Tears had sprung into her eyes, and she was dabbing at them with a spare bit of cloth, her mouth pursed into a pout. Anna felt her fingers increase in speed as she tapped out Ravel's Piano Concerto in G Mvt II in triple time, her anxiety at the concealed accusation coming through.

"Why did you do it? Was it one of your friends from school? Did they put you up to it? I'll march down to their parents and make sure they leave you alone in the future if you want."

"No mum, it wasn't my friends at school." _I didn't have any friends in that school_ she thought to herself, unable to voice her true feelings.

"Then why?" She demanded, still dabbing at her face despite the lack of tears.

"I, I don't know," she stammered, shocked by the question. She never thought her mother would be so direct, and there was no way she could tell her the truth.

"You don't know?" She questioned in disbelief, staring at her face in confusion as she shook her head. "Well can you promise not to do it again? I don't think your father would like it."

"I promise," she whispered, her heart sinking at the thought. Her mother had been looking at her expectantly, there was nothing else she could have said and yet, she couldn't help the hopelessness that overwhelmed her as the whirring of the sewing machine started up once more and her mother began describing the party she and her father had been to the week before.

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><p>Liam scowled as yet another one the kids took up place behind him, their whispering stopping him from hearing what was going on.<p>

"Will you shut up!" He muttered fiercely, glaring at them all in turn as they silenced at his look.

"It's not like you can hear anything anyway," Lily mumbled softly behind him. He ignored her however, creeping forward a little so that his face was almost pressed against the railings at the top of the stairs. Mike and Gina had left the door of the office open, and their conversation could be heard in the hall when they're voices were raised and the idiots behind him kept quiet. _If only Frank was here_ he thought sadly. There was no doubt that his friend would help him keep the younger ones from annoying him so that he would be able to hear what was going on.

"...but why can't the police just tell us what they found?"

Tracey's loud voice brought him back to the matter at hand and he held up his arm to silence anyone from speaking, his ears straining to hear the answer. Luck wasn't with him however and he could only hear snippets of the conversation.

From what he could make out, the police had found a lead but were unwilling to share what it was with anyone. Tracy wasn't very happy with the news, not that the others were, but she was very vocal about her discontent and most of what he could hear was her loud questions on what they could do to help the situation.

It was times like this that he really disliked the girl. If she had decided to be quieter like his and Anna's social worker, he might have been able to hear what they were planning to do. He would never admit it to anyone, but he was worried for Anna. She had become a friend to him in the short time she stayed here and he didn't want to see anything bad happen to her.

Sighing as he heard the door slam and Tracy's footsteps as she stomped through the house towards the laundry room, he shuffled back a little and stood up, uncaring that he bumped into Lily and Tee as he went Their cries of indignation followed him as he walked back to his room, a frown on his face. If only there was something he could do, some way in which he could help Anna, or at least help the people looking for her, but there was nothing he could think of that would help, and he hated himself for it.


End file.
